


oh, but she burns

by Kaatiba



Series: Cherry Wine [3]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Azula (Avatar) Redemption, Azula has feelings, Book 3: Fire, Ember Island (Avatar), Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Episode: s03e12 The Western Air Temple, Episode: s03e13 The Firebending Masters, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, POV Alternating, POV Azula (Avatar), Protective Sokka (Avatar), Toph Beifong and Zuko are Siblings, Violence, War, Western Air Temple, Zuko (Avatar)-centric, Zuko Joins The Gaang Early (Avatar), Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-11-10
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:20:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 24
Words: 47,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25495981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaatiba/pseuds/Kaatiba
Summary: (sequel to "like rum on the fire" and "the tide of her breathing" but could be read independently)A Canon-Divergent Remake of Book 3 where Zuko joined the Gaang back in Ba Sing Se, and it alters the course of Destiny...ORThe last half of S3 with 200% more Zutara and Tyzula***not discontinued, but currently on hiatus***
Relationships: Aang & Toph Beifong & Katara & Sokka & Suki & Zuko, Aang & Zuko (Avatar), Azula & Iroh (Avatar), Azula & Mai & Ty Lee, Azula & Ozai (Avatar), Azula & Zuko (Avatar), Azula/Ty Lee (Avatar), Iroh & Zuko (Avatar), Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Sokka & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Suki (Avatar), The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar), Toph Beifong & Zuko
Series: Cherry Wine [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1798858
Comments: 376
Kudos: 1041





	1. The Fallout

_"Her eyes and words are so icy  
 **Oh, but she burns**  
Like rum on the fire _

_  
Hot and fast and angry as she can be  
I walk my days on a wire." _

-Hozier, _Cherry Wine_

* * *

Azula stopped in front of the bunker doors where her father was hidden. 

_Not hidden_ , she corrected herself, _he wouldn’t like that...It sounds weak_. 

She took a deep breath, taking stock of herself. She hadn’t sustained any real injuries, of course, she was too good for _that_. But her encounter with her traitorous brother had shaken her just a bit. 

She couldn’t remember having laughed that hard since....well, possibly ever. She still wasn’t sure what exactly had come over her, but something about Zuko’s i _diotic and unfailing sincerity_ , even after he’d become a full blown traitor had just gotten to her. 

_He deserts_ **_me_ ** _back in Ba Sing Se, then has the nerve to imply_ **_he_ ** _can help me._

_As if she’d ever need help. Least of all from Zuzu._

It _had been_ laughable, she reasoned. Her response had made sense. 

She ran her hands through her hair, smoothing down the edges, making sure her crown hadn’t loosened during her fight with the Avatar. 

_It’s honestly amazing Zuko could never capture him._

Even with her bending disabled, which she could admit had been an intolerably weak and disorienting loss, she’d still run circles around the so-called Avatar and his lackeys. 

Steeling herself, she opened the doors to her father’s chambers, immediately sizing up the room. The large hanging banner with the Fire Nation insignia was rumpled on the floor behind her father’s chair, edges frayed.

There was a sizable scorch mark on the floor beneath his dais, and for a moment Azula was surprised. She knew the kind of power it would take to leave that kind of damage.

_Surely, Zuko hadn’t learned to produce lightning since the last time they’d dueled._

She stifled a small hint of anxiety. _No, even with the Avatar’s help, Zuko couldn’t come close to matching her level of firebending skill_. She was sure of it.

But he _had_ done a number on the throne room and somehow escaped....

She was painfully curious, but knew better than to ask her father what had happened. She approached him steadily and dropped into a one-kneed bow. 

She couldn’t help but notice several strands of his dark black hair had fallen out of place in a rather unbecoming way. It made her uncomfortable, seeing him shame himself like that. 

He seemed angrier than usual as he hovered over the captain of his guards menacingly. 

The man had prostrated himself in front of Ozai and was begging shamefully. “I-I’m so sorry, your Majesty, but you told us to leave, and w-we didn’t know-” 

Azula watched through her lashes as the man eyed the elephant in the room, or rather the large scorch marks on the marble floor. 

“-you said the former Prince Zuko was too weak to-”

Ozai growled, and Azula listened to the sizzle as he summoned a ball of fire, blasting the prostrate man straight in the chest.

The man fell back, gurgling and screaming as the fire caught and spread along his clothing, lighting underneath his armor which started to steam. 

It took several minutes of this before the man finally quieted, going limp. By then the smell of burning flesh was uncomfortably strong, but Azula had learned to stomach it by now. 

Her father turned towards the other guards who were smart enough to stay silent. 

“ _That_ name will never be spoken in this palace again,” he said, voice cold as the other guards nodded. “Dismissed.”

They filed out, walking around the corpse of their former captain as they went to stand outside the doors Azula had come through. 

Azula’s brain whirled, quickly putting together what must’ve happened. Against all odds, it seemed as though her moronic brother really had somehow managed to send lightning towards the Fire Lord. 

It seemed impossible, but the evidence was burned into the floor in front of her, and in her father’s angry outburst. 

She kept her head bowed as he approached her. 

“Stand, Princess, Azula.”

She did, falling into parade rest, hands behind her back. 

“Your traitorous brother was killed in the misguided invasion attempt,” he began, and she blinked in surprise. 

_She’d seen Zuko escape. She’d_ **_let-_ **

_Well, she’d seen him._

“Poisoned by his weak and traitorous Uncle, he tried to confront his Fire Lord and was killed for his insolence, struck by lightning.” Her eyes darted to the scorch marks before returning to her father’s face. 

“After the eclipse, his pathetic group of rebel allies failed and were beaten back by the Fire Nation’s superior forces, and after that, he was never seen alive again…”

He looked her in the eyes, “Do you _understand_ , Princess Azula?”

She nodded. Of course Zuko could not be permitted to survive after he’d...caused her father an embarrassment. And of course _she_ was the most suited to carry out any important and _delicate_ missions for the crown. 

She wasn’t surprised by the order, but was a little surprised by her lack of enthusiasm. Afterall, her father was giving her direct orders to secure her claim to the throne. _Permanently_. 

She’d just been given the winning hand in a game that had been going on her whole life, but for some reason the victory felt a bit hollow. 

Maybe because she’d always been so ahead. She’d been winning for the last three years without anyone to gloat to. 

“Don’t disappoint me like you did in Ba Sing Se,” he muttered. She startled again. 

_Disappoint?!_ She’d single handedly captured the city that had never fallen without any losses on the Fire Nation’s side. She’d done what the Dragon of the West couldn’t do, she’d...failed to kill the Avatar and bring Zuko back into the fold.

_“You miscalculated my loyalties, Azula”_

“That’s right,” he said, eyeing her coldly as if he could read her train of thought, “Your brother was always a weakling, and yet, you still let him get the best of you, tainting your victory with shame.”

_Shame_ ? Azula _never_ felt shame. _She_ was the _good_ sibling.

“I-” she opened her mouth to defend herself or make a retort ( _he couldn’t just treat her like Zuko!_ ), but then she smelled the burned flesh of the corpse in front of the dais and thought better of it. 

The smell still reminded her of her brother’s Agni Kai…

She bowed her head, “Yes, Your Lord. It will be done right this time.”

“Good,” he nodded once.

Azula knew she could dismiss herself now, stop while she was somewhat ahead, but a part of her that needed validation for her accomplishments ( _she’d t_ hwarted this invasion, planned their bunker defense, fought the Avatar) couldn’t stop until she got her father’s praise. 

She searched for something to impress him. To remind him of why she was still the same perfect heir she’d always been. 

She donned her normal, carefree tone. “May I make a suggestion about the other guards,” she nodded towards the former captain, “to protect the covertness of this mission?”

He frowned, following her gaze, “You think they’d _dare_ to betray their Fire Lord, that they’d mutiny?-”

He turned his cool glare to her, and she fought the urge to react visibly, simply straightening her shoulders, forcing her hands onto her hips in a cocky gesture she’d learned to wear a long time ago. 

“I think they could all still successfully bend _without_ their tongues, don’t you?” she smirked. 

She held her breath, waiting for his reaction.

Finally, the corner of his mouth tilted up as his gold eyes ( _Zuko’s_ eyes) narrowed in a cruel smile.

She let her breath go. 

He chuckled coldly, “Very well, Crown Princess, Azula...You are dismissed.”

With a nod, she turned, making sure not to walk too fast or too slow. _Crown Princess..._

As she entered the hallway, she refused to meet the eyes of any of the guards she’d just condemned to maiming. 

_Better them than me._


	2. The Arrival

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: mentions of the air nomad genocide

Katara sighed, feet sore as they all trudged across the forest floor, the still armored Appa walking next to them. 

They still didn’t know exactly where the Western Air Temple was and were searching for it on foot. 

Beside her Sokka mumbled, “This is humiliating.”

She sighed, tears all dried out and bedside manner a bit low, “You mean getting thoroughly crushed by the Fire Nation or having to walk all the way to the Western Air Temple?” Her voice was snappier than she intended. 

Sokka just scowled, “Both.”

Aang looked a bit guilty as he pet Appa’s head, walking beside him, “Sorry guys, but Appa gets tired carrying all these people.”

Toph cocked her head, “Can you even get to an air temple without flying?” she wondered.  Aang rubbed the back of his neck, but Zuko answered first, “Yes.”

Aang and the others peered at him curiously, taken aback by his sure answer. 

“How do  _ you  _ know?-” Sokka asked. 

It was Zuko’s turn to rub the back of his neck. “I, uhh, back when I was...hunting the Avatar, I made sure to..visit all the air temples..” he looked sheepish, speaking about his sordid past chasing them, but Aang just looked shocked. 

“You went to  _ all  _ of them?” he asked.

Teo also piped up, “Even the Northern Air Temple?”

Zuko nodded.

“But you didn’t have an airship, did you?”

“No, I just...scaled the sides of the mountains.”

Sokka shot Katara a look and grumbled, “ _ Just scaled a few mountains _ ... _ show off _ …”

Aang saddled up next to Zuko, obviously still curious. “When was this?”

“Right after my banishment,” Zuko said, “in fact, last time I was here, I still had bandages over my left eye.”

He said it like it was a joke or fun fact, but Katara’s heart sank imagining a thirteen year old Zuko, still hurting and in pain, already putting his fool’s errand above his own wellbeing. 

Aang’s voice grew hushed, “Did you see...at the temples, were there…” he trailed off, voice heavy with emotions, and Katara remembered the sealed temple room filled with skeletons, the remnants of battle, the way Aang had entered the Avatar state after finding Gyatso….

She sucked in breath, and around them everyone grew quiet, even The Duke, who’d been chatting with Haru in the back seemed to sense the change in tone. 

Zuko nodded slowly. “Yes, there was um...It was my first time really seeing..what the Fire Nation had done, and it...it still wasn’t enough to make me realize, though it should have been, but…” she saw Zuko frown thoughtfully, remembering. “But Uncle and I...w-we cremated the bodies we could find and held an overnight fire vigil…” his voice trailed off, lost in the horror of the memory. 

Katara wondered if that’s why they hadn’t found more... _ evidence _ outside the temple they’d first visited with Aang. 

Aang’s voice was quiet when he spoke, and Appa saddled up next to him to nudge him in comfort, while Momo curled around her best friend’s neck. “Y-you burned them? And held a...fire vigil?”

Katara couldn’t read the emotion wavering in Aang’s voice, and Zuko couldn’t seem to either, looking concerned. 

“I-we, yes...I-I’m sorry we  _ burned  _ them,” he winced, “it’s just...that’s just the typical Fire Nation burial rites, and we didn’t...not even Uncle knew what the proper Air Nomad rites were, so...w-we threw the ashes in the wind, but….”

Katara stopped and the others did too as Aang put his hands over his face. She immediately ran over to wrap him in a hug. The others shifted nearby, unsure of what to do. Sokka came over to put a hand on Aang’s shoulder, looking a bit miffed at Zuko who looked horror-struck. 

“Aang, I’m so so sorry...I didn’t know…”

The young monk finally looked up with his red-rimmed grey eyes. “They just...left them all there…”

Zuko’s eyes widened, but he nodded slowly, face grim. 

Katara shifted as Aang peeled out of her grip and walked over the Zuko who looked nervous before the younger boy hugged him around the middle. 

“Thank you for not leaving them, Zuko.”

Zuko looked surprised, but nodded. “Of course.” 

Sokka cleared his throat, “It’s getting dark out, and we’re all worn out...maybe we should just make camp here for the night, and begin looking for the temple again in the morning. 

They all nodded slowly, looking dead on their feet. The mood continued to stay somber as Aang finally peeled away from Zuko, and they all began slowly putting up their tents. Even Toph deigned to help set up without too much complaining. 

They had nowhere near enough food for everyone, since they hadn’t planned on fleeing, and there were three extra mouths to feed. All they had was plain rice, and even then, when Katara handed Zuko his small bowl, he shook his head silently, nodding towards the younger kids.

Nodding back, she redistributed his portion to another bowl which she passed on to a drowsy looking Teo. 

“I wonder how the rest of the troops are,” the boy asked. 

Haru shook his head, “They're probably on their way to a prison. Seems like my dad just got out and now he's going back in again.” Katara felt saddened thinking of Tyro and the other earthbenders looking as defeated and beaten down as they had when she’d first met them in the Fire Nation floating prison. 

She handed what would’ve been her own portion over to the Duke. Her stomach growled, but she knew Zuko was hungry too. They both knew it was the right thing to do. 

As she handed him the unsalted rice, The Duke spoke up, “I miss Pipsqueak.”

“I miss not having blisters on my feet,” she glared at Sokka as he spoke up, his grief manifesting in bitterness. She wasn’t happy he was lashing out a bit, but there wasn’t much she could do to stop him. 

They passed the rest of the “meal” in relative silence, everyone stuck in their own dark thoughts. It was windy at their altitude, but at least Zuko was able to keep a large fire burning to keep the big group warm. 

As the others began falling asleep, he kept it going. When she glanced at him questioningly he shrugged, frowning. “It’s the least I can do.”

She frowned, not liking the way Zuko seemed to be in the mood for self-sacrificial acts of atonement. The letter he’d given her for Iroh still weighed heavily in her pocket. 

She scooted closer to him. “Thanks for not dying on me.”

He snorted like it was a joke, but she was completely serious. She sucked in a breath. “That...the lightning.” She closed her eyes, “For a second there, I was sure I’d lost you, but you...you were amazing, Zuko.” She looked up at him. “Really, the way you stood up to him, everything you said...I’m  _ so  _ proud of you.”

He let out a shaky breath and leaned his head against her shoulder as she ran her hands through the now shaggy strands of his black hair. _ I need to give him a trim _ , she thought absently. 

“Thank you...It helped that you were there to help anchor me...to remind me why I’ve changed and that it’s worth it.”

She smiled, leaning her head on top of his as they listened to the snores of their companions. 

“I do wish,” he spoke up a moment later, “that Azula…”

She waited for him to say more, but his breathing evened out, and she realized he’d fallen asleep, likely from pure exhaustion. 

_ Ozai tried to kill him today, but he didn’t succeed. Zuko defended himself, and still took the high road. He left his father alive _ . 

It was all so surreal and hard to wrap her tired mind around. 

She adjusted herself and Zuko, so they could both lie down comfortably on her bedroll, and she hugged him close to her. 

_ We might’ve lost _ , she thought,  _ but at least I didn’t lose you _ . 

  
  


* * *

Azula strolled into Ty Lee’s quarters.

The girl’s room in the palace adjoined to her own, though unlike Azula’s which was filled with luxurious fabrics in deep reds and jewel tones, Ty Lee chose to lighten her room up, folding back the curtains and adding pale pink and white accessories around the room, giving it a more... _ cheerful _ disposition. 

After their successful coup in Ba Sing Se, Azula had needed an official reason to keep Ty Lee close, so she’d awarded her with the title of handmaiden. 

Of course, it was only in title, since Azula’s normal group of servants and advisers still regulated her strict daily schedules. Mainly Ty Lee...kept her company. 

She supposed she had Mai too as a companion, though Mai’s family lived a few yards from the palace. And given her unfortunate sympathies for her brother, Mai had to be kept at a distance. 

As much as Azula had groomed her to be her third, there were still moments when Mai’s apathy made Azula question the somber girl’s unswerving loyalty. 

“Ty Lee!” she called out, hands on her hips. 

“Hey, Azula! I’m in here!” Ty Lee’s sing-song voice floated from the dressing room to Azula’s right. She stalked over there to see her friend applying her makeup.  _ As if she needs it _ , Azula thought. 

Azula’s makeup was meant to make her look more regal, more imposing and intimidating. It was another fine layer of armor she wore, but she didn’t quite understand Ty Lee’s makeup routines. 

They always just made her look softer, more... _ appealing _ . And Agni knew the girl was already too  _ appealing  _ for her own good. Azula hated the way those disgusting, unkempt boys had leered at Ty Lee on their disastrous “girls’ trip” to Ember Island a few weeks back. 

Not only did it make her question her own appeal and adequacy, but it also stirred up something deep in her gut she wasn’t very familiar with. 

Something that made her feel very  _ territorial _ . 

And because of that she’d...done something. Something neither of them had talked about since. 

And Azula certainly refused to think or talk about it now as she made room for herself on the stool in front of Ty Lee’s vanity. She watched for a moment as the other girl applied a soft pink gloss to her lips.

She cleared her throat, “I’ve been given an important mission, Ty Lee,” she began formally, her own reflection smirking back at her, darker stained lips quirked up proudly. “The Fire Lord has entrusted me with it, personally.”

For some reason, that made Ty Lee’s soft pink lips twist into a subtle frown. “What is it?” the girl’s voice was less perky than before. 

“He has tasked me with eliminating my traitorous brother...for good.”

“Oh, Azula,” she watched her reflection’s smirk twitch a bit in confusion as Ty Lee’s voice came out in a honeyed, sympathetic tone, “I’m sorry.”

“What for?” she asked shrilly, refusing to face Ty Lee head on, though they were sitting thigh to thigh. 

Ty Lee shook her head mournfully, “I know you wanted Zuko back-”

Azula turned, grabbing Ty Lee’s wrist tightly, hissing, “ _ Don’t _ say that name,” she dropped Ty Lee’s wrist abruptly, looking over her shoulder “The Fire Lord has made it a taboo.”

“And it upsets you,” Ty Lee frowned, looking at her thoughtfully as Azula continued to not return her gaze. 

She stiffened as Ty Lee took her right hand, holding it palm facing upwards and began using her index finger to trace the lines on it. 

It was oddly comforting and familiar, a strange quirk that Ty Lee had always been interested in palmistry and strange spiritual mumbo jumbo like auras and horoscopes. Azula had no inclination towards it, but it reminded her of sleepovers with Mai when they were younger, where they’d..

_ The past was the past. It was irrelevant _ . She pulled her hand out of Ty Lee’s tender touch. 

Ty Lee shook her head, “Your aura is very conflicted right now, Azula.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Ty Lee,” she scoffed, “I’m as focused as ever.”

“Maybe..” Ty Lee continued to frown at her. 

“Stop looking at me like that!” Azula scolded, though she wasn’t entirely sure what she was mad about...maybe the concern and tenderness in Ty Lee’s annoyingly earnest gaze.

_ Zuko also  _ _ has  _ _ had an annoyingly earnest gaze _ ..

Ty Lee thankfully dropped the subject, turning back towards the products on the tabletop in front of her. She began powdering her cheeks as Azula continued.  “Well, Ty Lee, you shall accompany me on this mission.”

The girl frowned again, and Azula wished she would  _ stop doing that _ .  “I’m not sure that’s the best idea, Azula.”

“Why not?” she couldn’t keep the pout from her voice. 

“Even if your brother did deserve it” Azula frowned at the  _ if _ , “-I’m not sure you’re the best person for this-”

“ _Of course I am!_ ” her voice became even more high-pitched, “I am the  _ single most competent _ -”

Ty Lee shook her head, “Of course, you are Azula. You’re the most skilled person in this palace,” she couldn’t help but smile a bit at that, “But that’s not what I mean...I’m worried about the emotional toll killing Zuko would have on you.”

“I  _ just  _ told you not to say his name!-”

Ty Lee frowned at her, unimpressed, and Azula let the other part of the sentence sink in. 

Why would she be... _ emotionally affected _ ? How ridiculous..

“He’s a traitor to the crown, and he deserves to die for his crimes.” Her voice was cold, “I no longer have a brother.”

“ _Azula_ -” Ty Lee tried taking her hand again, but Azula stood sharply. 

“Come or don’t come, I could care less. You’d just slow me down anyways.”

With that, Azula stalked right back out of Ty Lee’s quarters into the hallway and kept walking, not entirely sure where she was headed. 

She eventually came out into the sun of the Agni Kai stadium and decided to work on her firebending. 

_ If Zuzu had really summoned lightning- _

Well, she didn’t  _ need  _ to practice, but she was in the mood. 

She caught a whiff of Ty Lee’s cloyingly sweet floral perfume on her wrist as she raised it and growled, summoning a perfect arc of deadly blue lightning which she sent across the courtyard to scorch the very tiles where Zuko had once kneeled. 

_ I am  _ **_not_ ** _ conflicted.  _

* * *

Toph called out to the others, “Hey, we're here! I can feel it!”

Sokka looked down at his feet in confusion. All he could see was the cliff’s edge they were all perched on. “Uhhh ... I think your feet need their eyes checked.”

But Aang perked up, smiling for the first time since Zuko’s morbid confession the day before, “No, she's right. We are here!”  Sokka looked around again. 

Toph was grinning, “Wow...it's amazing!”  Aang turned to the others, finally deciding to let them all in on the secret. “It’s beneath our feet! It was built upside down to hang suspended in the air above the chasm.”

“Sounds very safe,” Sokka mumbled, though his mind was already whirling through the possible engineering and architectural techniques they must’ve used to keep stone suspended like that.  Maybe he’d ask Aang later when he was in a better mood. 

For now, Aang walked over to Appa, jumping on to his head. 

“Okay, everyone back on! You guys are gonna _love_ this place!”


	3. The Aura

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bc this fic is Azula's Time 2 Shine, I'm gonna re-advertise my Azula inspired Spotify playlist:  
> https://open.spotify.com/playlist/45PCWQHoSmuw2Pvl1KGDuw?si=t_mEwgfWRi-IYcG-jFKhOQ
> 
> & while I'm throwing in playlist links, here you goツ 
> 
> this is for the series: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1z5qoWROjZhw8vbd3pycfz?si=w8cqmhNLTmyUe-RNuES45Q
> 
> this one's for Zuko: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1E3NDejbO5jfbR5odNTcT0?si=rgHYilBtQaqsaVvCPL02FQ

Teo looked around in amazement. His dad could do some pretty amazing things, but he wasn’t sure even he could manage the engineering genius it must’ve taken to pull off this place.

“It's so different from the Northern Air Temple,” he wondered aloud as the others got off of Appa as well. “I wonder if there are any secret rooms,” he rolled forward taking in the high ceilings of what seemed to be the main floor. 

Haru nodded, “We’ve got to do some exploring later.” Teo nodded eagerly. 

He hadn’t known Haru all that long, but they’d hit it off. The three of them, Teo, Haru, and The Duke had developed some unspoken bond since the retreat from the invasion. 

It’s not that the Avatar’s group was  _ clique-y _ , it was just they were all so close-knit and had gone through so much together, it was a bit hard not to feel like an outsider, so Teo had started clinging to Haru and The Duke a bit more. 

Plus the Avatar’s group were all older or amazing benders, so they were a bit intimidating in general.

Especially Zuko who Teo hadn’t talked to much. He seemed nice enough, if a bit reserved and jittery, but it was hard to let go of the whole  _ Fire Nation royalty  _ thing. And his big scar didn’t help him look less intimidating. 

Though Teo felt bad the moment he thought it. He of all people knew how easy it was to be misjudged based on outward appearances. 

Katara turned to the others, “I think we need to talk about some things.”

Teo knew he wasn’t her target audience, but he lingered anyways, naturally curious. 

Sokka nodded somberly, “We need to decide what we're gonna do now that the invasion  _ failed _ .”

Teo was surprised at how quickly the confident, ingenious, charismatic Sokka from a day prior had quickly turned into this beaten down and bitter shadow of him. After all, the invasion wasn’t a  _ complete  _ failure. 

Teo was still proud of what he and his people had accomplished. 

“Fair enough,” Aang sat down and the other’s followed, “So, what's the new plan?”

Sokka, despite his hunched shoulders still spoke up, “Well, if you ask me, the new plan is the old plan! You just need to finish mastering all four elements and confront the Fire Lord before the comet comes.”

Teo wasn’t sure what he meant about a comet, but it made sense. Of course the Avatar could win as long as he finished his cycle and became fully realized! Why were they all so worried?

“Maybe we should find Uncle..”

Teo watched as Zuko and Katara had a silent conversation that left her frowning. Toph piped up in response, “As much as I love Gramps, I don’t think we have time to-”

“I mean for...teaching Aang firebending,” Zuko interrupted to explain, staring at his feet as he said it, missing the blatant shock and indignation on the others’ faces. 

“Why?” Aang asked, looking sad and shellshocked like a kicked puppy. “Do you not want to teach me anymore?” Teo had definitely used  _ that  _ puppy dog face to get his way before. 

“No, it’s not that, Aang,” Zuko said softening as he too saw the Avatar’s face, “it’s just...I’m not sure I’m good enough to get you where you need to be...Uncle’s much better than I am...after this, I know there’s no room for any weak links.”

Toph and Aang looked like they were about to protest, but Katara spoke up first, “Zuko redirected the Fire Lord’s lightning.”

They all looked at her in shock, then over to Zuko who looked surprised at her words, but then started blushing furiously. “That’s not-”

She glared at him as she continued to praise him, “It was incredible. Zuko confronted his father, and the minute the eclipse ended Ozai sent the most terrible, powerful blast of lightning at him. I’ve never seen so much raw energy at once, but Zuko absorbed the impact into himself and managed to redirect it back at his father-”

“That was  _ Uncle’s  _ technique!”

“That  _ you  _ executed perfectly!”

Teo’s head swung back and forth curiously as the two glared at each other and Aang broke in. 

“You blasted Ozai’s lightning back at him?” he sounded a bit awed. 

“Not right at him...I didn’t...I know that’s not my destiny,” Zuko mumbled.

Aang nodded, looking at Zuko with something Teo could only call respect and love. “But teaching me is...I believe in you, Zuko. I can’t do it without you!”

Zuko held his stare a minute before nodding. “Yeah, okay...we’ll keep training.”

Teo turned his head as Sokka stood, uncharacteristically quiet throughout the whole exchange and began to walk away from the group. 

“Where are you going?” Katara called.

“Hunting.” Sokka responded tersely. Katara got up as he walked away, but Toph stopped her with a hand. “Give him some space right now.”

An awkward silence fell over the group in the wake of Sokka’s abrupt departure, and Teo turned towards Haru and The Duke, deciding they should maybe give the others some space too. 

“Still want to explore?”

This time Haru nodded eagerly as he stood, The Duke following. 

“I’ll race you, Duke!” Teo called, as he began wheeling himself forward, faster and faster.

“It’s  _ The  _ Duke! Get it right!”

Teo laughed as he began flying across the old stone floor. 

* * *

Azula walked back to her room, still dripping from her evening bath. Of course, she could’ve waited to have one of her servants towel her down, but she was longing for a bit of privacy. 

She passed Ty Lee’s room quickly and slammed the door of her own room closed, plopping herself down in front of the vanity in her own dressing chamber. 

She pulled out a comb and began attacking her long, dark damp hair. Normally she enjoyed the pampering of a royal hair brushing from her entourage, but again, she was craving a bit of time alone for some reason. 

But because she rarely did it herself, her movements were sloppy, and her tangles pulled painfully at her scalp. Instead of slowing down or adding any hair oil, she simply tugged more and more viciously until the comb was 

She was leaving with a small squad of airships in the morning to begin her mission. Ty Lee still hadn’t told her whether she was coming or not. She hadn’t actually asked Mai, assuming she’d be disinclined and not really feeling like convincing her. 

She was a bit sick of always having to convince people to join her.

_ Especially when it doesn’t work…. _

She pulled more viciously as her traitorous brain conjured the image of Zuko, fighting against her in the catacombs in Ba Sing Se. The image quickly shifted to that of her mother.

_ Mother used to brush my hair _ ... She frowned.

_ But that was before she turned on me for good _ , her frown quickly turned to a scowl as she reminded herself how much better off she was without Ursa’s weakness and scolding getting in the way of her ambitions. 

She looked in the mirror at her bare(vulnerable, unarmoured) face and frowned. Her hair was still a mess, and in a burst of frustration, she snapped the comb in half. She’d send for a new one later. 

She was distracted by a soft knocking on her door. 

She pulled her red silk robe tighter around herself before opening the door. Luckily, it was just Ty Lee, so she turned, letting her in without saying a word. 

She wouldn’t speak to Ty Lee unless  _ Ty Lee  _ spoke to  _ her  _ first. 

She silently sat back down at her vanity, Ty Lee equally quiet as she joined her. She flinched a bit as the other girl fingered the end of her wet, tangled hair and a few cold drops trickled down the back of her neck. 

Ty Lee looked down at the broken comb and shook her head a bit. “Oh, Azula..I’m sorry for not getting back to you sooner, I’ve been a bit busy..”

Azula frowned.  _ With what or who?  _ She wanted to ask.  _ Who do you care about more than me? And why? _

But she continued to give her friend the silent treatment. Ty Lee didn’t seem to mind though as she began humming to herself, untangling Azula’s hair with just her fingers. It wasn’t the most effective method, but Azula let her do it. 

“Your aura is still clouded, though a bit more...blue,” Ty Lee said, almost to herself, “sometimes when you get frustrated, you channel it into your inner fire, which always calms you down, so your aura gets a bit more blue like your flames…”

If Azula was speaking, she probably would’ve said something mean, but she just frowned at Ty Lee’s reflection in the mirror. 

Ty Lee went on, “For some people, blue is bad, but I’ve always thought your lovely blue flames suited you...Even though you wear so much red, I always think of you when I see blue because of that, your fire and your aura when you’re at your calmest...like now. You’ve gone from a red purple to a more blue purple even since I came in here...”

Azula rolled her eyes as Ty Lee’s mindless nonsense. She knew her father wouldn’t be nearly so apathetic about her choice of handmaidens if he knew what kind of frivolous garbage she was being exposed to...all this talk of feelings and auras.

Ty Lee finally let her hands fall from Azula’s hair, and she immediately missed the contact. 

“I’ll come with you.” 

She turned her head to meet familiar grey eyes. Azula had never seen eyes like Ty Lee’s anywhere else. 

“What makes you think I’ll even have you now?” Azula asked, voice dismissive, though she was curious as to why Ty Lee changed her mind. 

Ty Lee just smirked back, a look both foreign and oddly fitting on her childlike face. “Tell me you don’t want me to come then.”

Azula was silent. 

Ty Lee nodded, smirk softening into a genuine smile as she continued to  _ stare rudely _ . 

She picked up Azula’s hand in her own, and Azula thought she might start doing her  _ palm-reading _ , but then she did something even worse. 

She brought the back of Azula’s hands to her soft pink lips and kissed it gently before letting go and standing up. 

“See you in the morning, Azula,” she said softly before walking out of the room, leaving Azula feeling like she’d just been burned or attacked. 

Brain still in fight or flight mode, she summoned a blue flame and ended up burning the broken pieces of her painted wood comb, smiling in relief as flecks of paint peeled off. 

She didn’t remember until it became a pile of ash that it had belonged to her mother once.  Shaking in renewed frustration, Azula climbed into bed, with her wet messy hair, hand still tingling, staring up at the canopy, vaguely wondering what her aura must look like  _ now _ . 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you can pry the "Azula is a lesbian" hc from my cold, dead, filed-nail hands. 
> 
> Also, Teo is such a sweet lil bean.


	4. The Hunters

Azula had already told her servants they were dismissed for the week, so early the next morning, she and Ty Lee both snuck down to the kitchens to steal some pastries, which they carried back to Azula’s room and ate on the bed like they’d done when they were little.

Normally, Azula might get mad at the powdered sugar dusting her otherwise immaculate bedding, but she had servants to clean it up and wouldn’t be sleeping in her own bed for a little while anyways.

Plus, she was in a rather good mood. Ty Lee told her she had a sky blue aura that day. 

Ty Lee had brought over her own comb and was now helping Azula brush out her tangles from the night before when the door opened. 

Azula jumped up from the bed, stiffening her shoulders at the unwelcome intrusion.

“Well?” she asked sharply as the man bowed quickly. 

“Princess Azula, I only came to tell you that your airship is ready and waiting outside.”

He looked a bit nervous like he thought she’d burn him (and she  _ had  _ admittedly scorched the hems of a few servants’ robes before), but she was feeling more  _ sky blue _ than usual, so she just shrugged, licking the powdered sugar off her fingertips. 

“Very well.  _ Dismissed _ .”

The man bolted, and Azula plopped back down so Ty Lee could help her finish doing her hair. 

  
  


* * *

Sokka hadn’t managed to catch anything on his hunting trip the day before, which of course had only added to his frustration, but he still knew he had to provide, bad mood or not, so he got up early the next morning after their first night camped out across the temple’s open air pavilion. 

Of course, he still couldn’t beat Zuko up, and he saw the boy doing his daily sunrise mediation or whatever on the ledge of the temple. 

He tried to walk softly, but of course the firebender had some kind of Blue Spirit spidey sense, so he turned immediately. 

Sokka had the feeling Zuko had been waiting for him to get up. 

Sokka immediately began walking towards the staircase Aang had shown them that would allow them to get from the temple to the woods and back without Appa. 

“Wait up!” Zuko said softly, jogging lightly until he caught up. Sokka just nodded. 

He could feel himself being an asshole to everyone he cared about, but he just couldn’t help it. He was just so... _ mad _ . 

“Where are you going?”

“Hunting. Fishing.”

“I’ll join you.”

Sokka shrugged. He wasn’t feeling very sociable, but he couldn’t find a good reason to argue against any extra help, especially not with three new mouths to feed. 

Silently, the two boys climbed out of the Temple, coming out onto the grassy cliffside, before continuing towards the forest. 

A mile or so in, Sokka began setting up the first set of traps he’d designed. Zuko tried to help, but Sokka mostly brushed him off since his traps were pretty complicated and needed to be rigged just right for them to work. 

Zuko didn’t complain and carried the supplies while Sokka worked, moving from one bush to another. 

Eventually he stood up, grunting, “Okay, that’s all the land traps. While we wait, let’s go see what we can get out of the river.”

Zuko nodded, and they began the hike another mile or so East until they came across the river they’d flown over the day before. 

Sokka set up his two biggest nets while Zuko set up a standing fishing pole, but Zuko didn’t do it quite right, so Sokka redid it, grumbling a bit as he worked. Zuko just shrugged and wiped the sweat from his overgrown hair. 

_ Honestly, wasn’t Katara ever going to trim it? _

“All that’s left is to wait,” he declared. They both sat down, stretching their legs by the river. The sun was pretty intense overhead at such a high elevation, and Sokka had begun to sweat uncomfortably. 

After his seventh brow swipe and mumbled complaint, Zuko stood up, “Okay, we can’t scare the fish away too badly, let’s cool off.” He began to take off his shirt before walking a few yards downstream of their nets and wading into the water. 

Grudgingly, Sokka joined. He had to admit, the feel of the cool water did soothe his nerves a bit, and he was feeling a bit more human as he waded back onto the shore, plopping down next to Zuko who was wringing the water from his fringe. 

“So,” Zuko began, pushing his hair back from his face, “You’ve been a real jerk lately.”

Sokka sputtered, “W-what?! How dare- I…. _ You’re _ the jerk, you jerkbending jerk!”

Zuko snorted, “Yeah, usually, but lately you’ve been giving me a run for my money...why is that?”

Sokka scowled. “Like you don’t know why.”

“I know you’re hurting because of the way the invasion played out,” Zuko shrugged, “I know you’re worried about your dad and everyone that followed you, that you feel like a failure, that you feel like you’ve lost your  _ honor  _ and need to get it back.” He snorted again in a self-deprecating way. 

“I-” Sokka puffed himself up, ready to defend himself, but then deflated, “Yeah…”

“Makes sense,” Zuko said and Sokka turned to stare at him. 

“It does?”

Zuko nodded thoughtfully. “During my banishment, I was  _ so angry all the time _ . At  _ myself _ . At the  _ world _ …” He sighed, “At my father too...though I didn’t realize it for a long time, and I just lashed out at everyone around me because I was hurting, and I didn’t know how to make it stop.”

Sokka frowned listening to Zuko’s description. His friend continued, “And that doesn’t make it okay, but it does make sense. To me at least. The others might not fully understand, but I get it.”

Sokka trailed his feet in the water quietly for a moment before responding, “Does that mean I have to give myself a terrible bald ponytail haircut and run around-”

Zuko punched his arm, and he smiled his first actual smile since they left the capital. 

It faded as quickly as it came. “ _ If anything happens to them _ ,” he choked out unable to finish, “I can’t stop thinking about it, everytime I see Haru or Teo - or even Katara! I know how much losing a parent hurts, and the thought that someone else could go through that...because of  _ me… _ ” he shook his head. “I can’t stand it.”

“That’s because you’re a good person, Sokka.”

“I guess.”

“And a good leader.”

Sokka scoffed at that one, but Zuko cut him off, “I’m serious. You did more damage to the Fire Nation forces with a smaller army than anyone’s ever done, trust me, I’d know...And yeah, it didn’t exactly pan out all the way, but you still did a  _ pretty damn good job _ .”

Sokka didn’t believe him, not really, but he didn’t disagree out loud as Zuko began to stand. 

“I’m going to go check the nets, okay?”

Sokka nodded, thinking. 

* * *

Azula spread the map out across the table, weighing it down. 

“The Avatar’s travel speed is very fast, as you remember” Ty Lee nodded, listening intently, “But they could only have gone so far,” she demarcated a line on the map in ink, “in such a short time period. Now, they could be planning to hop from destination to destination to throw us off, but I think it’s more likely, they’ll try to find a single location to bunker down for a while.”

She looked up at Ty Lee and the captain of the airship. “Afterall, the Avatar is not fully realized yet and needs to finish mastering his firebending which will require a remote location, excluding these places,” she crossed off several large port cities in ink, “and of course, they’ll need to avoid these major blockades and strongholds,” she crossed off more locations on the map.

“That narrows it down to these rural Earth Kingdom territories with low parole presence, the Water Tribes, and of course, the Air Temples,” she said, nodding, satisfied. 

“So where do we start?” the captain asked. 

Azula stared at the map, trying to get inside the brain of their little ragtag group. A group of sentimental fools…

“The Northern Water Tribe would give them the most defense and best allies, but they’ve just suffered a devastating loss. Their morale is low, and at the end of the day, the Avatar will have to take the lead...Since he is an overly emotional and sentimental fool, he’ll be craving comfort and familiarity.”

Ty Lee nodded, leaning over her to point at the map, “One of these air temples.” Azula caught a whiff of her sweet perfume and nodded, looking at her finger. 

“Precisely,” she smiled.  _ Tracking this Avatar would be too easy _ .

_ I’ll show Zuko how it’s done. _

* * *

They trudged back through the forest, now weighed down with their nets, traps, along with their kills. 

They’d only caught one small rabbit and a squirrel, but had gotten a good amount of fish. Zuko had even stumbled across some kind of mushroom they figured they could show to Aang to see if he could eat. 

All in all, Sokka felt a bit more confident as they walked back. At least he could still do this. Could keep the children of the men he’d left behind from starving to death. 

He kept side eying Zuko who walked beside him. He had to be as tired as Sokka felt, but he didn’t complain at all or grumble like Sokka had earlier. 

“Listen, Zuko buddy,” he started, “I’m sorry.”

“What for?” Zuko swiveled his head. 

Sokka frowned, “What we talked about earlier! Me being a  _ bit  _ of a jerk lately..”

“Oh...Why are you apologizing to  _ me  _ about that?”

If Sokka’s hands were free he might rub his neck sheepishly. “Well...uh you might not have noticed, but I was feeling a little…”  _ jealous  _ sounded too girly, “ _ inadequate _ when everyone was singing your praises, but...I guess I’m trying to say that even though I was being weird about it, I am proud of you and what you did, so...sorry.”

Zuko snorted. “Thanks, Sokka.”

* * *

Ty Lee looked up as Azula pushed open her door. 

“We’ve officially set course for the air temple,” Azula announced happily. “ _ And _ , I’ve arranged for the chef to prepare us a private dinner here in your cabin.”

Ty Lee smiled obligingly, glad to see Azula was still in a good mood. Ty Lee had always enjoyed flying, and she suspected part of Azula felt better now that she was away from the palace and her father. 

Azula sat down, making herself comfortable on the small twin bed. Ty Lee leaned back against her, nudging her shoulder. 

“Have you thought anymore about what I said before?”

“When?” Azula stiffened a bit. 

Ty Lee sighed. It was always two steps forward, three steps back with Azula. But still, she persisted. 

“About...Zuko?”

Azula’s eyes shuttered, and immediately Ty Lee knew she should’ve waited. Maybe given it a day or two, or at least waited until Azula was drowsy and full of food before broaching the sensitive topic. 

“There’s nothing to think about,” Azula said automatically. 

“Okay,” Ty Lee said, hoping to lower Azula’s hackles. Slowly, but surely, she relaxed back against her shoulder and began playing with the end of her braid. 

She sucked in a breath as the tips of Azula’s fingers brushed her spine, reminding her of a moonlit balcony not that long ago...Azula had always been braver the farther she got from Ozai...maybe..

Ty Lee tilted her head so that she was facing Azula. Her eyes traced the outline of her heart shaped face, her deep amber colored eyes, her rosy lips…

“Back on Ember Island-” she began, but Azula immediately recoiled at the words as if burned.

“We talked about that already.” Her voice was robotic.

“ _ No _ ,” Ty Lee said firmly, “ _ You _ talked, and I listened, but you never let me-”

Azula stood up from the bed, stalking towards the door, all sense of ease gone. Her aura had darkened immediately, becoming an ugly, murky green. 

“I have to go make arrangements with the captain. Good night, Ty Lee.”

Azula slammed the door behind her, just like she’d slammed close the conversation Ty Lee knew they needed to have. 

She just sighed looking out her porthole at the waning moon. 

  
_ One day, Azula, you’re going to have to stop running from yourself _ . 


	5. The Source

Zuko grunted as his flame dissipated in the air. “What was _that_?” he glared at his fist like it would give him an answer.

“That was the worst firebending I've ever seen!” he cried, growling in frustration. 

He needed to be better...Aang _needed him_ to be better.

“I thought it was ... nice,” Aang smiled slightly and shrugged, being way too nonchalant about the whole thing. Zuko grunted again and tried again, sending three more rapid fire punches into the air, but all of the flames were smaller than usual.

He stared at his palms in frustration. “ _Why is this happening?_ ”

Aang rubbed the back of his head, looking confused. He had to have noticed the decrease in Zuko’s power, “Maybe it's the altitude.”

Zuko sighed, turning back. It definitely wasn’t. He could feel something had shifted internally. 

“Yeah, could be.”

But an hour later, and Zuko had felt no improvement. He’d taken to pacing about angrily like he used to do on the wani and reciting Uncle’s tips to himself. 

“Just breathe, and…” he punched his fist out with more ferocity than before, but the resulting fire blast showed no improvement.

Aang stood up from where he’d been laying on an old pillar, “That one felt a bit hotter.”

“Don't patronize me!” he yelled furiously, “You _know_ what it's supposed to look like!”

“Sorry, Sifu Hotman.”

Zuko raised his arms overhead, wanting to scream some more, but then he remembered what he’d talked about with Sokka just yesterday….the stuff about lashing out at others and how he was past that phase of his life... 

Maybe he'd spoken too soon. 

Speaking of, Sokka wandered over to them munching on an apple, sitting down beside Aang. “Hey, jerks! Mind if I watch you two jerks do your jerkbending?” he smirked. 

“ _Sokka_ ,” Zuko gritted his teeth, desperately trying not to be _that guy_ , but it came out strained, “ _Please_ get out of here!” He raised his arm to point in the opposite direction.

_At least I said please_ , he thought.

Sokka chuckled a bit, though he looked mildly concerned, “ _Okay_ , buddy, take it easy.”

* * *

“So,” Katara said as she flipped over the fish he and Sokka had caught and filleted the day before. “You’ve been uh...tense today.”

Zuko glared at both Aang and Sokka, just to cover his bases. “Oh yeah?” they both paled sheepishly, “And _who_ told you that?”

Katara rolled her eyes. “Actually, amazingly, as your _girlfriend_ , I sort of noticed on my own, thank you very much.”

Now it was his turn to look sheepish, “Oh...right.”

She poked at the sizzling fish, examining it. “Can you raise the heat?” she asked, temporarily distracted. 

He glowered, shrinking in on himself, “Ask Aang to do it.”

Aang sent a small flame underneath towards the kindling, but Katara frowned, “Huh?”

He sighed. Now was as good a time as ever to tell everyone else. “Listen everybody, I've got some pretty bad news. I've lost my stuff.” He looked at his lap dejectedly. 

Toph raised her arms, “Don't look at me, Sparky. I didn't touch your stuff.”

Zuko sighed, “I'm _talking_ about my firebending...It's gone.” He looked down again. 

He finally looked up to see everyone looking at him blankly. Haru, the mustached earthbender of all people spoke up. “Uh..didn’t you light the cooking fire a few minutes ago?” _Stupid Haru_. 

“Well, it's not _lost_. It's just... _weaker_ for some reason.”

Katara shook her head, “Zuko, that makes no sense. You redirected your father’s lightning just a few days ago!”

They didn’t get it. They couldn’t _feel_ it like he could. 

“But ever since-”

He thought about it, realizing he hadn’t done any good firebending since his run-in with Azula, but he didn’t think the others would appreciate that sentiment.

“-since the invasion failed-” _Sorry, Sokka_ , “-it’s just been...weaker.”

Toph tilted her head, “So you’re having a little confidence crisis, and you can’t make big bad flames anymore?”

He glared at her. It was more _complex_ than that. 

But also...she was sort of right. 

Aang piped in, “You told me you used to use the imperial-style of bending which harnessed rage, right?” Zuko nodded. “But then after you joined us in Ba Sing Se, you eventually became less angry, right?”

He looked at Katara, blushing a bit, “I mean...sure.”

“But your bending was still powerful then!”

Sokka chimed in, “Yeah, you did that cool stuff with the lava _way_ after you’d switched sides!”

“What’d you use to fuel your bending then?” Aang asked curiously. 

Zuko thought about how he’d stopped the lava to save the rural Fire Nation villagers. How he'd felt the overwhelming desire to protect, to save, how he’d called upon the memory of Katara’s lips on his own, the thrill of _making a difference_ with her. 

“Um..” his cheeks were burning hotter than his flames from earlier, “ _loveIguess_.”

Toph pretended to retch while Sokka guffawed. “Ok! Problem solved, Katara go over there an give him a big old smooch-” She hit his arm with her spatula, cheeks red. 

“I just think...I need a way to power my bending that doesn’t rely fully on hate or on...love," he shrugged, "I need to find a middle ground that isn’t so wrapped up in how I’m _feeling,_ either good or bad.”

He recalled what Uncle had once told him about lightning, and what Azula and the most talented benders had to do to create it. 

_"There is energy all around us. The energy is both yin and yang; positive energy and negative energy. Only a select few firebenders can separate these energies. This creates an imbalance. The energy wants to restore balance and in a moment the positive and negative energy come crashing back together. You provide release and guidance, creating lightning."_

Toph nodded slowly, looking more serious than before, “If you're gonna need to learn to draw your firebending from a different source, I recommend the original source.” she began picking at the rice Katara put in front of her

Sokka smiled, “How's he supposed to do that? By jumping into a volcano?”

Toph just shook her head, “No. Zuko needs to go back to whatever the original source of firebending is if he really wants to tap into its most balanced and pure form.”

“So, it’s _not_ jumping into a volcano?” Sokka looked disappointed, and Zuko sent his supposed _friend_ a glare. 

“I don't know,” Toph set her bowl aside for a moment, “For earthbending, the original benders were badgermoles...Once, when I was little, I ran away and hid in a cave in Gaoling where I met them. They were blind, just like me, so we understood each other. I was able to learn earthbending, not just as a martial art, but as an extension of my senses.” 

She grinned at the memory, “For them, the original earthbenders, it wasn't just about fighting. It was their way of interacting with the world.”

Haru spoke up again, “That’s amazing!”

Toph smiled graciously in his direction. “I can teach you sometime, how to see with earthbending, if you’d like.”

Haru nodded eagerly, “Yeah, I’d love that!”

“I learned from the monks, but the original airbenders were the sky bison,” Aang smiled, shooting a look back at Appa’s whose mouth was stuffed full of hay. “Maybe you can give me a lesson sometime, buddy.”

Appa gave a growl, pieces of hay falling to the ground. 

“Well, this doesn't help me,” Zuko said, aware he was coming across a bit whiny, “The original firebenders were the dragons, and they're extinct."

Aang shook his head, “What do you mean? Roku had a dragon, and there were plenty of dragons when I was a kid!”

Sometimes Aang’s stories about the wonderful, peaceful happy Fire Nation of a hundred years ago set Zuko’s teeth on edge, knowing how much had changed...how much _his_ family had done to change it for the worse.

“Well, they aren't around anymore, okay?” he snapped, immediately feeling bad about it.

“Okay, okay,” Aang put his hands up, “I’m sorry.”

Zuko deflated. “No, _I’m_ sorry, Aang...but maybe, there’s another way,” he murmured, ideas starting to form as he recalled all his old tutoring lessons. 

He stood and began pacing as the others continued to eat their fish and rice. “The first people to learn from the dragons were the ancient Sun Warriors,” he recited studiously. 

“ _Sun Warriors?_ ” Aang asked, sounding excited, “Well, I know they weren't around when _I_ was a kid.”

Zuko wanted to snort because Aang was _still_ a kid, but he explained, “No, they died off thousands of years ago. But their civilization wasn't too far from where we are now!” he said, trying to recall a map in his mind. He shot Aang a look, “Maybe we can learn something by poking around their ruins.”

Aang smiled, nodding, “It's like the monks used to tell me! Sometimes, the shadows of the past can be felt by the present.”

They grinned at each other, and Zuko felt better already, having a plan of action in place. Though of course his _plan_ was-

“So what kind of plan is that?” Sokka interrupted, picking up the thread of Zuko’s thoughts, “To hope that _maybe_ you'll pick up some super old Sun Warrior energy just by standing where they stood a thousand years ago?” As resident planner, he sounded supremely unimpressed. 

Zuko shrugged, feeling more relaxed, finally sitting back down to eat his dinner, “More or less.”

Aang cheered, “Field trip!”


	6. The Dance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very First Aang POV courtesy of navso311's observation that I wrote Teo's POV but somehow still refused to write Aang's.
> 
> Day late and a dollar short, but it's here I guess lol

Aang tilted the reigns slightly, steering Appa just a bit towards the east past the rock stack Zuko had told him about earlier as they poured over one of Sokka beloved maps. 

He hummed gently to himself, enjoying the wind as it blew across his newly shaved head, calming him. He was really excited to not only learn more about these sun warriors he’d never heard of before, but to spend some quality time with Zuko. 

He knew Zuko had been feeling put out ever since the invasion, and to be fair, Aang didn’t know all the details of what had happened to Zuko down in the bunker system. 

He had his own burden of guilt and shame after letting Azula distract him from taking his shot during the eclipse. 

Another part of him was guilty at just how _relieved_ he’d been when the eclipse plan had failed. He still wasn’t comfortable with the idea of...killing Ozai. He just knew it was wrong, and now he had more time to figure out a solution to his dilemma. 

He just wanted to break the cycle of violence, but still end the war for good. _Was that so much to ask?_ He was the Avatar after all...

He sighed, turning back to Zuko who’d been quiet for a while.

Zuko caught his eye with a bored stare, “We've been riding for _hours_!” Zuko pouted, slumping over the edge of Appa’s saddle. 

Luckily, Aang was pretty used to Zuko being an impatient and whiny passenger sometimes. He didn’t hate flying like Toph did, but he hated having nothing to do and got very fidgety. Which was funny since Aang spent so much time meditating next to him, and knew he _could_ be still if he tried.

He’d never stop being fascinated by his friend and all the opposites he embodied. 

Below his legs, he felt the comforting rumble of Appa’s growl. He grinned, turning his head back to Zuko again, “Your negative vibes are bumming Appa out, Zuko.”

Zuko just groaned dramatically, head flopping back.

Aang smiled and leaned down to whisper to Appa.

“ _Someone_ woke up on the wrong side of the temple today, huh, buddy?”

Appa bellowed in amused agreement. 

* * *

Ty Lee hummed gently to herself as she leaned across the metal railing of the airship. She thoroughly enjoyed the feel of the wind as it blew across her face and through her hair, making her long braid twist behind her. 

She hadn’t seen Azula yet that day and suspected she might be hiding from her. No one could call Azula a coward, but she could be awfully slippery and evasive when she needed to be. 

But so could Ty Lee. 

She walked towards the captains’ cabin and ran into the man in the hallway. “Have you seen Princess Azula?” she asked sweetly, widening her eyes. 

The older man looked at her for a moment before responding gruffly, “She’s in the war room, but told me she was not taking any visitors today.” He frowned, and she realized that included _him_. 

But Ty Lee wasn’t just _anyone_. She smiled brightly, “Thank you!” and turned to walk back down the hall towards the war room. She knocked, but no answer came. 

“Azula! It’s me!”

Silence. 

She jiggled the handle, but it was locked. Rolling her eyes, she walked back outside towards the balcony of metal railing, leaping up gracefully to the level above, then sliding along the rim of the window before finding the window that led to the war room. 

Despite the buffeting winds at their altitude, she easily leapt down, kicking in the window and sliding through, landing softly inside the room. 

Azula glanced up, glaring sharply, but not looking all that surprised at Ty Lee’s sudden entrance. 

“Have you eaten yet?” she asked, leaning against the side of the table Azula was focused on. It was the same map they’d gone over yesterday. She must’ve had it memorized by now. 

“ _What?_ ” she snapped, stiffening. 

Ty Lee examined her closely. She seemed a bit more tired than usual. Beautiful and impeccably dressed as always, but between the chinks in her armor (both tangible and intangible) Ty Lee saw some confusion. 

Her aura was very red-purple.

“I was wondering if you’d like to have lunch with me in my room,” she said. “I’m rather bored, I could use the company.” It sometimes helped to make it seem like Azula was doing _her_ the favor and keeping _her_ company. 

Azula’s pride was a tricky thing, but Ty Lee was well-versed in it. 

Ty Lee wasn’t a bender, but she was well-versed in _people_. She knew how to adapt to their changing moods and be flexible as things came up. She had enough of a sense of humor not to get overly upset about things, and she knew how to diffuse and deescalate most situations. 

This came in handy when dealing with her wonderful but high strung friend. 

She just looked up at Azula through her eyelashes. _Your move_. 

Azula sighed, covering her inkwell where she’d been taking notes she’d no doubt drill Ty Lee and the Captain on tomorrow. 

“Very well,” Azula said in her most prim tone, which told Ty Lee she was trying not to sound as relieved as she actually was for a distraction from her mission. 

“Great!” Ty Lee smiled genuinely as she watched Azula’s aura cool down just a fraction. She linked her arm around the taller girl’s as they made their way down the hall. 

Ty Lee never took any kind of victory for granted when it came to her. 

* * *

“Finally,” Aang heard Zuko grumble as Appa began descending towards the island Zuko had pointed out. Already, Aang could see the outline of some stone ruins.

As they drew closer, they saw just how many ruins were left. For a thousand-year old extinct civilization, it still seemed amazingly intact.

“Whoa!” they both said at the same time, making Aang smile again. Zuko couldn’t hide what a history nerd he was deep down, and Aang knew he was excited about this as he was.

Appa landed, and Aang floated down, patting his friend on the nose. “Will you be okay hanging out here for a bit?”

Appa bellowed, already meandering towards some grass to reward himself for the long journey. 

Aang joined Zuko as they began walking towards the now leveled walls of the old city. 

Zuko kept looking around, “Even though these buildings are ancient, there's something eerily familiar about them. I can tell the Fire Sages' temples are somehow descended from these.”

Aang grinned, skipping ahead, “Awesome! We've already learned something about architecture. Hopefully, we'll learn something about firebending too. The past can be a great teacher-”

All of a sudden something snagged his shins, and he yelped as he tripped. 

In front of him, a small portion of the path dropped and some wicked looking rock spikes appeared. Losing his balance, Aang blew a quick blast of air from his mouth to help thrust him back up and somersaults on to the other side, where he managed to regain balance.

“Zuko, I think the past is trying to _kill me_.” he called nervously. 

Zuko knelt down to inspect the spikes that almost impaled him like a boar-q-pine. “I can't believe it.” He ran a finger along the tripwire. “This booby trap must be centuries old and it still works!”

Aang shook his head, adrenaline still pumping, “There's probably a lot more. Maybe this means we shouldn't be here.” For the first time, he considered whether they’d trespassed on a haunted piece of land. 

Zuko didn’t respond, taking two steps back and running toward the wall adjoining the path, running across the wall before jumping on the other side of the spikes. In moments like these, Aang was reminded of the Blue Spirit. 

Zuko dusted some dust off his shirt, “Where's that up-beat attitude you were talkin' about?” smiling shyly and proudly to himself like he sometimes did when he made jokes. “Besides, people don't make traps unless they've got something worth protecting.”

Aang shrugged, now following Zuko. 

Eventually, they approached a large carving of a person surrounded by two dragons breathing fire at him. 

He studied it thoughtfully, “I'm not sure what this tells us about the original source of firebending.”

Zuko shrugged, “They look pretty angry to me.” Aang watched him trace the furrowed brows on the dragon’s frightening faces. 

“I thought the dragons were friends with the Sun Warriors.”

“I guess they had a funny way of showing it.” Zuko kept walking again.

Something about the stiff line in his shoulders made Aang recall the way he’d snapped after talking about the extinction of the dragons.

“Zuko,” he hesitated as Zuko paused, “What happened to the dragons?”

Zuko let out a deep breath “My great-grandfather Sozin happened.”

Aang was quiet, recalling Roku’s vision of Sozin. But Sozin had his own dragon didn’t he?

Finally, Zuko continued, though he wouldn’t look Aang in the eye, “He started the tradition of hunting dragons for _glory_. There were the ultimate firebenders, and if you could conquer one, your firebending talents would become legendary and you'd earn the honorary title, Dragon.”

They approached a path with more dragon statues on either side and and stopped walking as Zuko examined it, the carved out scales and wings. “The last great dragon was conquered long before I was born, by my uncle.”

“But…” Aang didn’t know how to phrase it. He’d thought Iroh was too good for something that _cruel_. 

Zuko just nodded like he understood, “He had a complicated past. Family tradition, I guess.” He shrugged, “Let's just move on.”

Once again, Aang ran to keep up with Zuko’s quick stride and longer legs. 

They approached a large wall with two gates, and Aang tried unsuccessfully to pry them open, even using his bending for added force.

“It's locked up!”

Zuko rubbed his head and looked behind, before quickly going aside to show the sunstone from the column in front of the gates beaming light. “Wait.” His eyes followed the beam of light shining off the sunstone as it fell upon a circular carving on the ground.

“It's a celestial calendar, just like the Fire Sages have in their temples.” He turned around, “I bet that sunstone opens the door, but only when sunlight hits at just the right angle.” He frowned, “...on the solstice.”

_Stupid Fire nation with their stupid solstice-only temples,_ he thought uncharitably.

“Monkeyfeathers! The solstice again? We can't wait here that long.”

“No, we can't.” He unsheathed one of his dao, “But we might be able to speed time up.”

Aang watched in confusion as Zuko placed his sword against one of the circular carvings at an angle, causing it to reflect the light. “Let's see if we can outsmart the sunstone.”

Zuko continued to manipulate the light, but the doors remained closed.

“Nothing's happening,” he noted sadly . 

Zuko kept kneeling down and reflected the light, tongue between his teeth in concentration, “Come on…”

Aang jumped as the ground beneath him started to rumble like Appa. The shaking continued and he turned as a sharp creak then thud let them know the gates had opened. The shaking stopped as suddenly as it had started. 

Aang shook his head in awe, grabbing his staff. He turned to Zuko, smiling as the taller boy sheathed his sword, “Zuko! You’re a genius!” He nudged Zuko’s elbow, and he gave a small, satisfied smile. 

Aang walked inside the dark room and looked around it. He narrowed his eyes, trying to make out a statue, only to see it was a man’s face bearing a very angry expression. Aang gasped, jumping back reflexively, wind at his heels. 

“Relax.” Zuko rolled his eyes, “They're just statues.”

They continued to walk around the circular room, lined with tons of tall stone statues in odd positions. Aang walked up to one statue and tried to read the inscription. Surprisingly, it was in a script he was familiar with. 

“It says this is something called the Dancing Dragon.” He placed his staff to lean on the statue before stepping back and trying to mimic the statue’s posture. 

Suddenly, the ground under his left leg shifted, lowering an inch or two, making him yelp again. He broke the posture and looked down to examine what now looked like a button. He looked around at all the statues, thinking…

He gasped! It was a sequence, and if they all unlocked buttons like that..

He ran toward Zuko, catching him by the hand, and pulled him. “Zuko, get over here! I want you to dance with me!”

Zuko pulled his hand back, scoffing, “You want me to do _what_?”

Aang briefly recalled the dance that Zuko and Katara had done back in that Fire Nation cave and resisted the urge to blush, “Not that kind of dance….Just _do it_ ,” he complained. 

_Zuko was always such a grouch._

Aang pulled him to one side, so they were on opposite sides of the path that leads into the central ring and Zuko groaned.

“Just follow the steps of the statues, Sifu!” He had a good feeling about this. 

They both concentrated, assuming the posture of the statue in front of them and moved to their right and left, respectively, taking the postures of the statues in front of them, which pressed similar buttons lying on the ground in front of all the statues. 

“Don't you see?” he called, excitedly, “These aren't dance moves. These statues are giving us a _lesson_. I think this is some kind of Sun Warrior firebending form.”

“This better teach us some really good firebending,” Zuko grumbled, but he kept moving through each posture in time with Aang. 

Suddenly, they both heard the grate of stone on stone and turned around the see the ground detracting with a vertical column emerging from it. 

They both approached slowly, eyes wide as they took in the shining yellow, egg-shape resting on the column. Aang raised his arms in triumph. They’d done it! They’d unlocked the-

“Wait, what exactly is that?”

Zuko approached the stone, the bright gleam of the oval reminding Aang of Zuko’s own unique eyes. “It looks like...an egg.” He shrugged, hands raising. 

“Well, don't touch it!” Aang called. He might have to take back that whole _genius_ thing. 

Zuko paused, frowning a bit in what Aang thought was more of a pout, “Why not?”

“Remember what happened out there with those spikes? I'm just very suspicious of giant glowing gemlike egg things sitting on pedestals in mysterious rooms.”

Aang gaped as Zuko proceeded to ignore him, and picked up the egg, weighing it curiously in his hands as Aang’s eye twitched in exasperation. 

_Wait, is this how Zuko usually feels?_

Zuko marveled at the egg in his hands. “It feels almost...alive.” He stared at the egg like he was hypnotized. “It’s warm, and...I don’t know. I can just sense something weird about it…”

Aang glanced around nervously. He didn’t like being the responsible one. 

“Okayyy, egg-time over, let’s get out of here.”

He nudged Zuko who began to put the egg back down, but heard him yell in surprise as a geyser of viscous slime erupted from the pedestal and pushed Zuko all the way up toward the grates in the ceiling, sticking him there.

Aang would have laughed if he hadn’t been so tense already. “Oh no, it's another trap!”

More and more dark slime continued to spurt from the column, forcing back. He looked up at Zuko who was now stuck to the grates and unsuccessfully struggling to break free.

“It's like some kind of glue, I can’t pull free!”

Seeing Zuko helpless made Aang more determined, so he jumped across the slime and grabbed his staff from the other side of the room before climbing onto a statue's head, then onto another of the statues' head and finally airbending a gust of wind toward Zuko, but he wouldn’t budge. 

He looked down from his perch to see the slime had now started filling the whole floor. He went to tug at his glider, but felt it stuck to the mounting goo as it slowly rose, engulfing the room.

In a last ditch effort, he jumped towards the grate where Zuko was and clung to it, as he felt the slime press at his back, trapping him. And there was nothing an airbender hated more than feeling _trapped_. 

“I can't move! Zuko, do something!”

“Me? I can't move either!”

They both groaned right before the slime finally stopped pushing against them. 

“At least we have air,” Zuko reasoned, which sure, yeah, not suffocating was good. “Maybe if we stay calm, we can figure a way out of this.”

Aang rolled his eyes. That sounded like the upbeat platitudes Zuko normally mocked _him_ for. 

He said as much, but Zuko only huffed. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

* * *

“You just _had_ to pick up the glowing egg, didn't you?” Aang’s voice drawled as Zuko continued to stare out the grate at the increasingly dark sky. 

“At least I made something happen. If it were up to you, we'd never have made it past the courtyard.” _Scaredy cat._

Aang pointedly ignored the implication, “Help!” he yelled unhelpfully. 

Zuko winced at the noise, “ _Who_ on earth are you yelling to? Nobody's lived here for centuries!”

“Well, what do _you_ think we should do?”

Zuko sighed, looking up at the stars. He honestly had no idea. Like Uncle said, he never really thought things through before he did them...

“Think about our place in the universe?” he suggested, only half jokingly.

Just then, he saw a flash of movement, and turned looking up to a nearby rooftop to see an unfamiliar looking man with red paint across his cheeks and a spear in hand. 

The man called out, “Who’s down there?”

He and Aang looked at each other, eyes wide.

_Is it a ghost?_ Aang mouthed. 

Zuko just rolled his eyes before more very corporeal men began to approach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited from "Zuko picked up the Aang" to "Zuko picked up the egg", but thanks to those who caught that amusing typo <3 Maybe one day, young Zuko will in fact pick up the Aang as well.


	7. The Eternal Flame

Zuko bristled as the aardvark sloth’s long tongue tickled his neck. 

He and Aang sat in front of the crowd of men and women who’d come to gawk at their spectacle as they were slowly de-slimed by the funny looking creatures. 

Zuko didn’t know why these people seemed so surprised to see  _ them _ , when  _ they  _ were the ones who were supposed to be long gone. 

The man, who by air of authority Zuko had realized must be the Sun Warrior chief walked towards them.   


He’d been silent for a while as they were released from the bobby trap, but now he seemed to have passed his judgement. 

“For trying to take our sunstone, you must be severely punished!”

_ Shocker _ , Zuko thought.

“We didn't come here to take your sunstone,” Zuko started, figuring they might as well be honest, “We came here to find the ancient origin of all firebending.”

There were a few mutters from the crowd as one of the men stepped forward next to the Chief’s shoulder. 

“Yeah, right.” The man scowled at them, “They are obviously thieves, here to steal Sun Warrior treasures.”

Zuko watched as the man pulled the golden egg close to his chest, and when he saw Zuko’s eyes on it, he pulled it further away like Zuko would make a run for it then and there. 

It annoyed him, but he had to admit, he  _ was _ unusually drawn to the object. He’d felt a pull to pick it up, and now that he had, he felt like he needed to hold it again. 

Aang seemed more focused on the Chief. “Please, I don't normally play this card, but…”  _ Here we go _ , Zuko thought as Aang placed his palm on his chest. “I'm the  _ Avatar _ .”

When nobody said anything Aang looked around a bit confused. None of the warriors seemed particularly swayed by this, and Zuko wondered how much these people knew of the outside worlds’ affairs. 

_ How had they managed to stay so isolated, to keep their existence a secret, and why? _

Aang seemed to realize he wasn’t going to get the same fanfare he was sometimes used to receiving, and he smiled sheepishly, standing up, “Just hear us out-”

But Aang, for all his cheeriness, wasn’t always the best with people who were more...serious than he was. Zuko, on the other hand, had a lot of practice dealing with animosity and knew when to cut to the chase. 

He stood. “My name is Zuko, Crown Prince of the Fire Nation, or at least I used to be.” He looked around at the faces of the people who’d presumably been forced into hiding and feared this was just another facet of his forefathers’ legacy.

“I know my people have distorted the ways of firebending, to be fueled by anger and rage. But now I want to learn the  _ true _ way, the original way. We had no idea in coming here that the Sun Warrior's civilization was still secretly alive. Otherwise, we would not have trespassed so rudely.” 

He bowed, his left hand over his right fist. “I am truly humbled to be in your presence.” He looked back up, “Please, teach us.”

The Chief Sun Warrior watched him considering, and Zuko hoped his honesty would pay off. 

The man finally spoke in a ringing tone, “If you wish to learn the ways of the Sun, you must learn them from the  _ masters _ , Ran and Shaw.”

Zuko had never heard those names before. 

Aang seemed confused too. “Ran and Shaw? There are two of them?”

The Chief ignored his question, hovering over them menacingly, “When you present yourself to them, they will  _ examine  _ you.” He turned a critical eye to Zuko, eyes lingering over his scar, “They'll read your hearts, your souls, and your  _ ancestry _ .”

Zuko gulped reflexively, thinking about the image of Sozin leaving Roku to die on that volcano. Of Sozin wiping out the dragons, then the Air Nomads, then starting an endless war, corrupting the world with hate and pain, including his own people and heirs. 

“ _ If _ they deem you worthy, they'll teach you.” He smirked slightly, walking back, “If they don't, you'll be destroyed on the spot.”

Zuko hoped that the man was just being dramatic. 

But they didn’t really have a choice. The world needed Aang to master firebending, and Zuko would get him there if it was the last thing he did. 

Even after the Chief implied it very well might be. 

* * *

The Chief’s second, Ham Ghao Zuko learned, sullenly led them to a small building made of mud and stone with a thatched roof. “You can stay here for the night.” 

He gestured inside, where there were two sleeping areas carved into the hardened clay walls, with a nice fire pit in the center for cooking and heat. 

Zuko and Aang both bowed in thanks, and Zuko watched a bit wistfully as the man left, golden egg cradled in his arms tightly. 

“What’s up with you?” Aang asked, following his gaze. 

“Nothing,” he replied, turning to their room for the night. 

He sat down on the bed to the right. It was hard, of course, but after sleeping on the wani, then camping for so long, Zuko wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Even if he could return to the palace right then, he didn’t think he’d be able to sleep on the overly soft beds. 

“Good night,” he said to Aang before rolling onto his side and promptly dozing off. 

* * *

  
Azula shifted restlessly on her large, plush mattress. The airship might be military, but her cabin was still fit for the Crown Princess.

Not that it was helping her tonight as she kept turning around. She flopped from her back to her stomach, then back to her back, finally settling in a bit. 

But as her mind drifted to sleep, it continued to confuse and nag her. 

_ She saw herself sitting atop a throne in the Royal Palace wearing the crown of the Fire Lord, and the throne room glowed blue as her own flames encircled the dais.  _

_ She turned to her right and saw Ty Lee smiling back at her, then Mai picking her nails in boredom to her left.  _

_ She smiled. All was finally as it should be- _

_ Suddenly, the doors to the throne room burst open and Zuko burst in. But instead of a scar, he had a blue arrow tattoo running down his forehead.  _

_ She grinned getting up to fight, but the moment she stood, arms raised, her flames disappeared.  _

_ She turned around to find that Ty Lee had vanished and Mai was watching her in disdain, nose scrunched, judging her- _

_ The room was plunged into an icy coolness and Azula shivered as Zuko...roared? _

_ She turned around and saw that suddenly where Zuko had stood was a large blood red dragon. It was obviously here to steal her rightful throne. _

_ She screamed angrily, trying to firebend at it, but nothing came out. It was like an eclipse.  _

_ She tried to run as the dragon breathed bright orange flames at her, but she could feel the lick of flames light her hair on fire, it was falling out in chunks- _

_ Suddenly she was in her mother's garden by the pond. She looked down to see a young Zuko feeding bread to the turtle ducks. He looked up at her with a wicked grin that had never graced his face in real life, “Dad’s going to kill you, Lala...No really, he is.” _

_ She looked down at the pond, and saw her own reflection, except now, marring the left side of her face was a hideous burn scar.  _

_ She screamed again, kicking the water to disrupt the image, but then she fell forward into the pond, which was deeper than it should be- _

_ She was sinking deeper and deeper, and when she opened her eyes she saw Ty Lee’s face, and for a moment she was relieved, but then the girl’s grey eyes started to glow like the Avatar’s, and Azula kicked away, trying to swim to the surface as fast as she could. _

_ She ended up on the beach at Ember Island, at their old house. As she coughed on the shore, she saw the feet of her mentors, Lo and Li.  _

_ “Do I have any hairs out of place?” she asked, and they shook their heads in unison, “You have no hair left, Princess Azula.” _

_ She reached up to feel her scalp and began sobbing when she felt how smooth it was.  _

_ Suddenly mother was standing in front of her, towering over her, though she was full grown now, “Such a shame...you always had such beautiful hair.” _

_ “Help me!” she screamed, but Ursa just shook her head sadly before erupting in blue flames, and now she was on a porch, and the moon was bright overhead, and she saw Ty Lee’s familiar brown braid, but when the girl turned around it was actually the Avatar’s waterbender.  _

_ The girl smirked at her before unsheathing two dao swords, “You miscalculated.”  _

_ She stabbed Azula with both at the same time, but when Azula looked back at her face, it was Ozai’s _

_ She fell to her knees, screaming- _

And then she woke up like that. 

* * *

The next morning before the sun had fully risen, the Sun Warrior Chief entered their hut.

“It is time.”

Silently, ignoring the rumble of their empty stomachs, Zuko and Aang stumbled behind the Chief and the group of warriors trailing around him, watching them intently.

They followed obediently as the group led them up a hill to the tallest building in the center of the old city. 

They staggered up the many stairs of the building which was divided into multiple square tiers, decreasing in size, until they finally reached the peak where there stood a massive open air edifice with a spired roof. 

At the back wall was a large tear dropped shaped incision where a large flame glowed. 

Zuko stared at it in wonder, feeling the same uncanny draw he’d felt from the egg. 

The Chief led them closer to it, “If you're going to see the masters, you must bring them a piece of the Eternal Flame.” Zuko gaped, eyes widening as the Chief confirmed his suspicion, “This fire is the very first one.”

Zuko felt like his brain was short-circuiting… _ the very first flame? Talk about the purest source!  _

The man looked similarly reverent facing the flame, holding his hands up, “It was given to man by the dragons. We have kept it going for thousands of years.”

Zuko shook his head, feeling unduly impressed, “I don't believe it.”

The Chief continued, “You will each take a piece of it to the masters, to show your commitment to the sacred art of firebending.”

Aang seemed less enthused than Zuko, “Umm, Mister Sun Chief Sir, yeah, what if I’m not ready for that level of responsibility.”

The man shook his head, “Then you prove yourself unworthy of learning from the masters.”

Zuko nudged Aang, “We can do it,” he said, trying to be encouraging as Aang nodded slowly, still looking nervous.

Nodding, the Chief held his hand to the large flame, taking a small flame away, and dividing it into two parts in his palm.

The Chief went on, “This ritual illustrates the essence of Sun Warrior philosophy. You must maintain a constant heat. The flame will go out if you make it too small...Make it too big, and you might lose control.”

Nodding in determination, Zuko put his hands out to take the flame. Aang hesitated, but eventually did the same.

Instantly as the Chief placed the flame in his palm, Zuko felt his inner flame flicker in response, and felt the sense of warmth and continuity of this ancient fire. 

Aang chuckled a bit in relief, “It's like a little heartbeat.” Zuko nodded in agreement. 

“Fire is life, not just destruction,” the man said and Zuko stared into the flickering orange flame, remembering the fire underneath Uncle’s teapot, the way his mother had hugged him after he’d summoned his first sparks, helping Katara make dinner for their friends. 

He thought about Roku’s words and his dual heritage. How fire could be life or destruction. 

He thought about how the Avatar needed to yield both. How he needed to balance his own fire, so he could help Aang become fully realized. 

“You will take your flames up there,” the Chief pointed towards a mountain now glowing against the early morning sun, “The cave of the masters is beneath that rock.”

Zuko looked out at the silhouette of the mountain top against the sun and smiled, feeling something swell up in his chest.

He felt like Agni himself was about to hand him his Destiny. 

* * *

  
Azula said nothing as the door to her cabin creaked open and the familiar silhouette of Ty Lee crept inside.

“Azula?” She asked softly.

Azula continued to say nothing, trying to regulate her rapid breathing, smoothing her hair back.

It was fine. She was fine.

_Everything was fine_.

She felt the mattress sag as Ty Lee sat down beside her.

“Nightmare?” She asked.

Azula didn’t bother responding. She was sure her  _ aura _ was black anyways.

She just sighed, falling back against her pillow.

“Go back to sleep Ty Lee.”

She heard the creak as the girl obediently stood, and Azula abruptly recalled the moment in her dream when Ty Lee had vanished when she wasn’t looking.

She shot her hand out in the dark and caught the nonbender’s wrist.

Without saying a word, she shuffled over, making room as Ty Lee crawled into the space next to her, pulling the covers back over them both.

It reminded Azula of when they’d been kids.

But now everything had changed.   


_ Everyone was gone. _

She breathed in the floral scent that always seemed to cling to Ty Lee’s body, night or day.

Maybe not _everyone_.


	8. The Climb

Aang staggered through the last of forest's trees before coming out onto a steep rock surface. He was still trailing behind Zuko, panting a bit, overly worried about letting his small heartbeat like flame peter out. 

Zuko reached the top of the rocky incline and turned around to glare back at him. “Hurry up,” his friend called, flame thriving brightly in his hands. 

“I can't,” Aang bit out, cautiously crossing the rock to catch up, “If I walk too fast, my flame will go out.”

Finally he caught up to Zuko, catching his breath and looking down at his flame. It was much smaller and less bright than Zuko’s, more yellow than orange. Zuk also looked at it critically. 

“Your flame's gonna go out because it's too small.” Aang’s eyes widened as he stared at his palms anxiously. Zuko’s voice softened, “You're being too timid, Aang, give it more juice.” Zuko continued their hike. 

Aang followed, climbing another rock, “But what if I can't control it?”

Zuko kept walking, but let his voice carry, “You can do it. I know you can.” Aang smiled a bit at the reassurance, and Zuko added, “You're a talented kid.”

Aang smiled even more at the compliment and climbed up another rock, reaching the top of it a few paces behind his firebending teacher. 

Zuko’s teaching style had always been more blunt and forceful than Katara’s, but he’d never been as unwavering as Toph. It wasn’t like Zuko never gave praise and reassurement, but he never did so lightly. 

Aang always savored Zuko’s praise, knowing the sincerity and care with which it was always given. Aang got the feeling Zuko hadn’t been praised much at all as a kid himself, so for him, it was a big deal.

  
  


Zuko kept walking at his brisk pace, and Aang followed him. He sighed looking up at the top of the mountain. 

“Maybe we could take a quick break?” he suggested, but even as he said it, he saw the sun signal their entrance into the afternoon, and knew that their time was limited. 

Zuko, predictably, shook his head, and kept charging ahead. 

“You can rest at the top.”

* * *

Azula stared down at the mountain ranges far below the window as the captain spoke up, “We’ll be over the Patola range and at the temple by this afternoon.”

Azula nodded, holding up a hand to let the dour man know he was dismissed. She could feel his simmering annoyance, but he said nothing as he left her to her own thoughts staring down at the large map. 

She felt... _tired_. And she wasn’t very used to that feeling. 

_ She  _ was the first one to wield blue flames.  _ She  _ was the one who burned the hottest, the brightest. She was a  _ prodigy _ . And prodigies didn’t just...get tired. 

She scowled, pushing her hair back behind her ears. 

Something about her dreams from the night before had permeated her waking mind. She couldn’t get the flash of random images out of her head. Her mother’s face, young Zuko taunting her, seeing  _ herself  _ bearing his mark of shame. 

None of it made sense. She  _ didn’t  _ miss her mother, she  _ didn’t  _ trust Zuko, and she certainly wouldn’t  _ become  _ him. It was all so ridiculous and not worth her time to even think about. 

She stood up abruptly. She needed to do some training to clear her mind. She turned away from the large war room table and her maps and slammed the door behind her. 

She felt more settled as she walked out towards the airship’s balcony, feeling the fresh air across her face, watching the sun settle far above the mountain peaks. 

She was like Agni. She was like the sun. She was above everyone and everything else, and none of it could hurt her.

She continued to tell herself this as she let the wind blow several strands of hair out of place. 

* * *

Zuko felt the wind pick up, tugging at his hair, and sighed in relief as he and Aang finally reached the top of the mountain.

He scanned the peak to see that the Sun Warriors were already there, with the Sun Warrior chief, Ham Ghao, and another Sun Warrior standing front and center, turned towards them, waiting. Behind this group, there were two large vertical rocks with some kind of bridge and staircase connecting them.

The Sun Warrior chief and his seconds walked towards them, and Zuko felt the weight of their stares. 

“Facing the judgment of the firebending masters will be very dangerous for you. Your ancestors are directly responsible for the dragons' disappearance.” His brown eyes bore into Zuko’s, gaze serious and heavy, “The masters might not be so happy to see you.”

The suspicious man, Ham Ghao placed his hand on his hip, “I know I wouldn't be.” He and Zuko exchanged a quick glare, but Aang perked up hopefully.

“But once they find out I'm the Avatar…” he drifted off seeing the Chief’s stern glare turn to him. 

“Have you forgotten that you vanished, allowing the Fire Nation to wreak havoc on the world?” Zuko saw Aang’s head drop at his side as the Chief continued, “The decline of the dragons is your burden, too.”

Zuko felt a small surge of protectiveness, to defend Aang who already carried too much responsibility than any kid should, but his shoulders dropped as he let the words sink in. It wasn’t like it wasn’t something he hadn’t thought in his bitterest moments. 

That if Roku had just killed Sozin when he had the chance, none of this would’ve happened. And how when he failed, it was Aang’s job to end his ancestors. Sure, Zuko wouldn’t have ever been born, but he could think of far worse things...

The two Sun Warriors suddenly got into a kneeling position as the Chief walked closer towards them, taking a small portion of their flames and giving the flames to both of the Sun Warriors at his side, who moved to stand opposite each other on either side of the path leading to the staircase. 

The chief turned on his heel and walked back. Zuko looked around at the other tribe members, who were standing and sitting alternately in some kind of pattern.  His eyes were drawn back as the two Sun Warriors created a large burning ring of fire to surround them.

It might’ve been more intimidating if he hadn’t seen the Fire Lord’s throne room and its ever present, fiery displays of power. An eminent, burning, ever-present threat to his subjects.

Zuko looked down as Aang whispered to him, “We could turn back now. We've already learned more about fire than we'd hoped.” He gave a weak smile, but Zuko shook his head. 

They were on the verge of Destiny, and Zuko had stopped running from his a long time ago. 

“No, we're seeing this through to the end,” he whispered back, “We're gonna meet these masters and find out what's so great about them.”

Aang looked out at the large, curious rocks connected by the bridge, “What if they judge us, and try to attack us?”

Zuko swallowed his own nerves, knowing that he’d dragged Aang here, and he needed to help him see this through, “Well, we're the Fire Prince and the Avatar.” He took his free hand to slightly unsheath one of his swords, “I think we could take these guys in a fight, whoever they are,” he smiled confidently, reassured by his own dao swords and fighting abilities. 

Aang nodded, still looking fairly uneasy. 

They looked back across the courtyard to see that all alternate Sun Warriors had made their own fire circles. Zuko turned toward the Sun Warrior chief, summoning more of his put-on confidence, “Bring them out!” he called, head high. 

_ Like a Prince _ . 

The Sun Warrior Chief stretched his hands out wide, “Chanters!” he called. 

Immediately, the men and women still standing began to vocalize, their sounds echoing across the rock as those still sitting began beating their drums in a synchronized rhythm. The other Sun Warriors continued holding the fire circle from their crouched positions, and Zuko could feel the heat and beating in his body as adrenaline and excitement took over. 

He began walking towards the stairs, Aang at his side. From his peripheral, he could see the Warriors alternatively rising and bowing, rising and falling like one large flame. 

They approached the Chief and his seconds, who stepped aside to let them pass. 

Zuko and Aang looked at each other, grey and gold eyes connecting. Zuko saw all the love and trust and compassion and hope mixed right in with the anxiety and stress and fear in his friend’s eyes, and he knew his own eyes mirrored the mix of emotions. 

But he also knew they were doing the right thing. Knew they could do this together. 

They both took a deep breath as they started to climb. 

* * *

“Where’d you learn to do that, anyways?” Azula’s voice purred from the door of the training room as Ty Lee whipped around, seeing her leaning against the door frame, eyes on the soldier Ty Lee had just easily downed. 

The same soldier who’d shared a  _ look  _ with his buddy when she’d asked if she could do some combat training with them to stretch her legs a bit. 

His buddy was on the ground a few feet over. 

Ty Lee’s eyes followed Azula as she strode over, stepping gingerly over the downed men to stand right in front of Ty Lee. 

She wasn’t sure these days whether or not Azula’s invasion of her personal space was an attempt at intimidation and power or something  _ else _ .

“Family tradition,” she smiled. 

Her aura was light today. She’d pretended to stay asleep that morning when Azula, like most firebenders, woke up with the sun, jostling her from her own sleep. She hadn’t moved as she’d felt Azula trace a delicate finger over her shoulder and felt her eyes trace her form in the soft early morning light. 

She’d waited until Azula had changed and left to smile to herself and turn over, pulling Azula’s pillow to her chest, taking in the scent. 

Ty Lee had spent years trying to decipher Azula’s signature scent and perfume. She’d narrowed some of the top notes down to bergamot, lemon, ylang-ylang, and maybe some peach. Beneath that was the lingering scent of tonka bean, sandalwood, and something distinctly  _ Azula  _ that Ty Lee didn’t think could ever be bottled or replicated. 

She’d breathed it in happily and proceeded to drift in and out of peaceful sleep in Azula’s bed like she’d done when they were younger, before it became proper for the Princess to always have her own chambers and servants. 

Back when it was just the two of them and sometimes Mai. Back when things had been simpler. 

Now, Azula was eyeing her with a hint of jealousy, but also respect, “You know, after all these years, I’ve still never found any technique like yours among the records of the great Fire Nation combatists.”

Ty Lee shrugged, “Family secret, then,” she said somewhat coyly. 

Azula’s eyes bored into hers, and Ty Lee was sure, not for the first time, that if Azula  _ really  _ wanted to get that information (or anything else) out of Ty Lee, she’d give it willingly, but not for the first time, Azula let the subject drop. 

Ty Lee suspected that while Azula felt the need to know and control nearly everything, another part of her enjoyed that Ty Lee had her own secrets, her own life. 

Azula  _ thought  _ she liked Ty Lee because she was easy and predictable, but deep down, she knew Azula craved a challenge, an equal, and that’s why she  _ really  _ kept Ty Lee around.

It was such a complicated dance with them, but Ty Lee knew all the movies by this point. 

Azula was the only one who’d ever changed the routine on her…

Azula broke her from her train of thought, “Well then, since it seems like these imbeciles aren’t giving you much of a workout, how about I step in?”

Ty Lee smiled, already falling into a bent knee position as she saw blue flames spread along Azula’s palms. 

Azula was the most powerful bender Ty Lee knew, probably the best in the world. But Ty Lee fought like no other firebender, or anyone else in the Fire Nation for that matter. 

Azula was always on offense, and Ty Lee was always on defense, evading expertly as Azula attacked. But Ty Lee was never willing to use her chi-blocking on Azula, and Azula never let her blue flames burn Ty Lee, no matter how close they sometimes got. 

Their sparring always ended in a draw whenever Azula got bored, each having spent the whole time dancing around the other. 

They ended this time with Azula pinning Ty Lee to the mat on the ground, hips straddling her own. Ty Lee felt a pervading sense of calm and giddiness, even as Azula’s blue flame hovered threateningly. 

She wasn’t worried about getting burned though, and she had no plans to use her chi-blocking against Azula, no matter how easy it’d be up close like this. 

Azula finally let her flames peter out, breathing heavily before glaring and pushing off from Ty Lee quickly, not meeting her eyes. “I’m bored now,” she said primly, “Let’s go get some lunch.”

A complicated dance, indeed.

* * *

The warriors continued beating their drums as the rhythm bled into Zuko’s chest, making his heart pump faster and faster as he and Aang ascended the ongoing staircase. 

Aang was fidgety at his side, and Zuko willed him not to turn back. Luckily, the boy continued to match his pace as they moved upward together. 

Finally, they reached the top as the setting sun shined down at them. Zuko couldn’t believe it had taken them all day to reach the mountain top, when it all blurred together for him.

The music stopped playing as soon as they reached the top, and they both turned expectantly to look at the caves on each side of the bridge.

A Sun Warrior’s amplified voice echoed up to them, “Those who wish to meet the masters, Ran and Shaw, will now present their fire.”

Aang and Zuko turned towards each of the caves respectively and bowed down with their hands stretched toward the entrances. Through the whipping of the wind, Zuko heard the Chief’s faint, echoing cry, “Sound the call!”

There was the piercing bellow of a large horn being blown, and the notes echoed. The sound sent a flock of birds scattering. 

The cave to his right closest to Aang began to rumble, and Zuko felt the tremor underneath his feet as well as Aang’s trembling at his back. Suddenly, he felt the younger boy tense and heard his whispered yelp over the wind. 

“What's happening?” Aang asked anxiously, and Zuko let his head turn back towards Aanng a bit, just as he heard the boy gasp. “Zuko, my fire went out!!”

Zuko had to refrain from the multitude of curses that jumped through his head, annoyed that Aang was  _ ruining the moment with his childishness _ , “What do you want  _ me  _ to do?”

“Give me some of yours.” Zuko scoffed as he felt Aang’s hand reaching towards his own cupped flame, pushing him back with his shoulder. 

“No, just make your own!” he said to the  _ Avatar _ . 

Aang just whispered back, panicky, “I can't. I’m too nervous!” he reached for Zuko’s flame again, making him scowl as he held it away protectively, a childish part of his brain screaming  _ Mine _ . 

“Get some from those warriors then.” He felt another tremble under their feet, “And hurry!” Aang’s elbow hit his chin, “Stop cheating off me!”

“Quit being stingy!” Aang retorted, sounding like the twelve-year old he was. 

They continued to wrestle gracelessly as Zuko stubbornly held his flame out of Aang’s shorter reach. He felt smug until Aang suddenly caught Zuko’s arm, pulling it down, and Zuko felt his heart stutter as the burning flame vanished in the wind. 

_ Oh no he didn’t _ , Zuko thought, horror-struck as they both froze, looking at Zuko’s now empty palms.

They looked at each other, but this time, there was only mute panic in their eyes as they jumped, turning back to the entrances of the caves which were rumbling loudly. 

_ So this is how I die _ , Zuko thought grimly,  _ Defeated by a childish squabble _ .

Zuko knew he could summon his own flame, but he had a feeling that Ran and Shaw would be able to tell his crappy little flame from the legendary  _ Eternal  _ Flame. 

“Uh oh,” Aang said, sort of summing it up as a large pair of glowing white eyes appeared at the shadowed entrance of the cave.

* * *

The sun was just beginning to set completely as the captain walked towards Azula, looking nervous. She frowned at the sweat building at his temples. 

“Report,” she commanded tersely, and the man seemed to sweat even more. 

“Your Highness, we did not find any traces of the Avatar or his companions here.”

She put her hands on her hips slowly, “Did you leave any rocks or stones unturned? You mean to tell me in only a few hours, you managed to upturn every miserable inch of the Southern Air Temple?”

He nodded slowly, eyebrows knit. “It’s completely deserted, there’s a fine layer of dust everywhere and some...remains,” he cast his eyes down weakly, “but no living beings.”

Azula took a deep breath, deciding whether or not to kill the messenger, as a cold, burning rage filled the pit of her stomach. 

She summoned a blue flame to her hand, and as the Captain saw it, he dropped to the floor, prostrated, forehead to the ground. 

“Please, your Highness, we can search some more,” the man pleaded to her disgust.

The sight just made her even angrier. He looked  _ weak _ . He reminded her of  _ Zuko  _ on that fateful day...

“Azula.” A soft voice and a softer hand touched her shoulder from behind. 

_ I should turn around and burn her right now for this insolence _ , Azula thought, but she stayed still and silent as Ty Lee went on, “It’s okay, we haven’t failed.  _ You  _ haven’t failed...There’s still plenty of time to find them, okay?”

Azula shook her hand from her shoulder, turning to face the captain, sneering in disgust. 

_ I am not Zuko _ , she thought as she let out a large blue ball of fire. 

The captain screamed.

The fireball flew over his head, singing a few hairs on top, but leaving him otherwise unharmed. 

“Azula-” Ty Lee began again, voice impossibly  _ soft  _ and  _ compassionate _ , but Azula shook her off harshly, getting in the kneeling man’s space, fingers clutching the neck of his tunic. 

“Change our course. We’re going to the Western Air Temple next.” She glared down at him for good measure. “There won’t be any more chances for you after this.” She pushed him away from her, standing back up.

She ran a shaky, still steaming hand through her hair as the man nodded, fleeing the cabin quickly.

_ There’s no more room for any miscalculations.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol "You can rest at the top" is an inside joke with me and my best friend bc it's something her mom said to us once while hiking a mountain. What an icon.
> 
> Also go Follow me on my mediocre atla tumblr sideblog: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/momonzuko
> 
> It's a haphazard blog, but it's got some of the Golden posts/headcanons that help inspire some of my characterizations like this one: https://neiljostcn.tumblr.com/post/624993089534246912/hold-up-wait-a-second-i-know-there-was-a-post
> 
> which basically highlights how even Azula's color of fire is metaphorical and foreshadowing of her eventual burnout and her "gifted perfectionist kid/over achiever who peaked too early and became super depressed/started seriously cracking mentally later on" vibe


	9. The Meaning

Zuko staggered back as he saw two glowing eyes in the shadow of the cave’s entrance just before a huge red dragon came roaring out, forcing Zuko back with the sheer power of its movement, its shaking of the bridge and the air around them. 

_ It’s impossible _ , he thought, even as he felt the power of its body as it encircled the bridge around them, body seemingly endless as it twisted in time to the heady drumbeat. 

Zuko’s head turned to follow the path of the gleaming red scales twisting around him like giant pillars.

He turned in time to see a blue dragon coming out of the other cave, joining the red one as they circled the bridge, shaking it with their might as Zuko saw snatches of scaled bodies, wings, heads and tails, alternating between blue and red, dizzying him. 

_ It’s not possible, but it’s true  _ he realized. Even in his shock and trepidation, he felt a burst of giddiness as he realized Sozin hadn’t managed to destroy  _ everything _ . 

Firebending hadn’t been completely corrupted, there was still hope, for the practice, for  _ him _ . For the whole world.

_ "These _ are the masters,” he said in awe to Aang at his back.

“Still think we can take 'em?’ he heard Aang’s surprised whisper. 

Zuko’s eyes widened as he shushed the boy behind him, “I never said that!” he said in case the dragons could somehow hear. He glanced at them nervously and saw far down below, the warriors all began to bow down in the presence of the last dragons.

The dragons continued to fly around them, and Zuko had no idea what to do. They no longer had any flames to present them, and Zuko was at a complete loss, stuck standing still in a perfect combination of joy and terror. 

Suddenly, Aang whispered to him, sounding serious, “Zuko, I think we're supposed to do the Dragon Dance with them.”

“What?” Zuko shook his head, “What about this situation makes you think they want us to  _ dance _ ?”

If Zuko was about to become a dragon’s dinner, then he wasn’t going to go down  _ dancing _ . 

“Well, I think they want us to do  _ something _ . Let's just try it!” the boy pleaded.

And... _ maybe _ Aang had a point. They did look just as stupid just standing there with their mouths hanging open, so Zuko muttered, “Fine,” and took the starting posture.

His hands tilted up, one leg in the air as the dragons shot upward, then he slid to the ground, right leg bent at a perfect right angle as the other leg pointed, almost touching the ground, arms held out straight, perpendicular to his body as the dragons crossed them in the air at a similar angle. 

He breathed out as he lunged forward arms stretching out from either side of his body as he felt the powerful body of the red dragon at his back, stretching its own body and he turned and let his arms fall out again, letting the rhythm of the movements and drums distract him from the anxiety flooding his chest. 

As he flowed into the next posture, he felt his anxiety fizzle, as he turned and caught sight of Aang flowing in perfect parallel to him as the dragons mirrored them, the trembling of the air between there bodies becoming less threatening, and more like part of the movement of the dance. 

His eyes were furrowed in concentration, but his body felt graceful and at ease as he seamlessly moved through the rest of the routine. He felt the power of the dragon’s flying body behind him in the lines of his shoulder blades, their command of the air as he swiveled, hands meeting the ground as his legs bent and bowed. 

As Zuko dipped, he felt the dragon at his back dive too. 

Zuko had always struggled with his katas back when he was being taught firebending, had always been sloppy and clumsy, all force and effort, no grace. But now, he felt a sense of rightness and calm pervade his movements as the flow of the postures took over his body and his mind eased back, letting go.

He pushed his hand up as the red dragon behind him flew up as well. Zuko was now grinning in exhilaration as he moved into the final form, fists touching Aang’s as they mirrored each other. 

He felt more than saw the red dragon mimic his movement, coming to face his counterpart as well. He felt like he was  _ one  _ with the dragon. It would’ve felt like an arrogant thought before, but after the dance, Zuko felt the truth of it in his bones.

He was one with the master at his back. Like Aang and the blue dragon were a whole entity and all together, they completed each other, moving in perfect harmony. In perfect balance. 

But it didn’t stop him from shaking as he looked up at the blue dragon hovering yards away.

It was judgement time. 

* * *

Azula stared into the small looking glass by her cabin’s bedside table, frowning at all of her windblown hairs. 

She’d spared the captain’s life out of some ridiculous bout of weakness, and now she felt worse than ever.  _ What would father say? _

He’d probably call her  _ weak  _ or a  _ failure _ . And worse, he’d actually be  _ right _ . 

She’d picked the wrong air temple to search first, giving the Avatar and his companions, her  _ prey _ , precious time to plan and move or evade her. 

Even though she’d  _ known  _ the Western Air Temple was far closer than the Avatar’s last known location. 

Even though she’d  _ known  _ they’d want to stay somewhere closer to the Fire Nation to prepare their next offensive push. 

Even though she’d  _ felt  _ somewhere beneath all of her logic and planning, a strange  _ gut feeling _ that said that she would not find her brother at the Southern Air Temple. 

But she’d still routed them there first.  _ Why? _

She knew what Ty Lee would say, but she was still seething at the other girl for calming her down before, for not letting her take her anger out on the captain or the crew. She was still seething at herself for  _ letting  _ Ty Lee weaken her like that. 

Ty Lee would say she was  _ confused _ , that subconsciously, she’d wanted to buy herself time to figure things out, but that was  _ ridiculous  _ because her mission was  _ very  _ clear. 

She was to eliminate Zuko before he could help the Avatar wreak more havoc on their plans for securing victory in the war once and for all. Before he could continue to embarrass the throne (and her) with his ineptitude and cowardice and traitorous actions. 

“I want him  _ dead _ ,” she said to her reflection in the mirror. “I want them all dead.”

There was silence as her reflection (obviously) did not respond, and she sighed, letting it drop into her lap, suddenly sick of looking at her own face. 

She crawled into her bed which now smelled like Ty Lee’s perfume and curled up underneath her blankets. The sun hadn’t even set, but she still felt  _ tired _ . 

She closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep and forget her own failure and weakness. 

* * *

Zuko could feel the heat of the dragon’s breath emanating towards him in waves and knew it contained all the power and energy of the sun in its coiled and scaled body. 

Zuko had been wrong. They could never dream of taking the masters on in a fight. 

But even as Zuko watched the beast that could so easily rip him to shreds in the next few seconds, awe still pervaded his whole body. He felt a deep reverence for the creature in front of him. One he’d thought extinct. Slaughtered, just like the Air Nomads.

Except a  _ real dragon's _ fierce maw, beady yellow eyes, and dilated pupils faced him now. Aang, his  _ friend _ , his mentee, the last of the airbenders, stood at his back. The world was so much  _ bigger  _ than he’d ever imagined at thirteen.

Not for the first time, he felt a deep hatred towards Sozin. Towards the Fire Nation legacy of trying to destroy that which was too strong, too powerful. That which was seen as a threat, because it was  _ different _ . Because it wasn’t  _ tamable _ . 

He hated his ancestors for trying to destroy all the things they could not understand. 

He met the blue dragon’s gaze and saw a power in it he couldn't understand, but he wanted to try. He wanted to understand  _ so badly _ . He thought about how the dragon’s yellow irises weren’t that different from his own, how he had Roku’s blood as well as Sozin’s, how badly he wanted to  _ fix  _ everything his family had-

His legs shook as the dragons’ bodies dropped suddenly, landing with their legs below, at the bottom of the bridge. A scream tore from his throat as the dragons tilted their heads backwards and blew towering pillars of flame upward. 

Instinctively, Zuko covered his face, panic filling him as he thought  _ please _ . 

But he let his arms drop slowly as he felt a burning heat encircling them, but not burning. If anything, it felt like it was warming him from the inside, like it was part of his inner flame.

He opened his eyes slowly, gasping, mouth wide open as he took in the multi-colored flame vortex engulfing him and Aang.

He’d thought nothing else could shock him on this trip, but the purple, green, red twisting light and heat and pure energy and power in front of him, around him, inside of him changed everything. 

He’d never seen anything so beautiful. He felt tears come to his eyes unbidden, as he watched the fire, the beautiful fire surround them, fill them up. 

Of course he’d seen Azula’s blue flames before, but he’d never seen so many colors in one place, much less dancing around, flickering in time to his heartbeat, blinding him.

All his life, he’d heard the phrase “Agni’s blessing”, but he’d never realized what that meant until now. 

All his life, he’d heard about the “Divine” right to rule, that it flowed through his chosen bloodline. But now he knew that this was the only Divine thing left for him to cling onto. His power and Destiny were not in his blood, but in his fire. 

He closed his eyes as Aang breathed out behind him, “ _ Wow _ .”

He felt like he could hear the murmur of the rainbow flames enshrouding him, and he closed his eyes, listening as the flames continued to dance on the back of his eyelids.

_ Fire is life. Fire is life. Fire is life. _

He opened his eyes to stare into the flames once more. “I understand,” he whispered. 

Slowly, the vortex dissipated, and he felt the rush of air as the dragons curled their bodies before flying straight up towards Agni, circling once, then diving back into the depths of their caves. 

Zuko stood there, left in the wake of the  _ miracle _ , the  _ blessing  _ they’d just been given, unable to move or speak. 

* * *

Azula finally dozed off, but once again that week, she was plagued by another incomprehensible dream. 

_ She was on an unfamiliar island as she saw an unfamiliar man in Fire Nation robes sitting on top of a red dragon.  _

_ The man’s gaunt, narrow features were somewhat familiar, but it was the Royal Fire Nation hair piece tying his long white hair into a top knot above his head that made her figure this was a figure she should know.  _

_ He stared down at her and his gaze began to glow. She leapt back- or she would’ve if she’d had a tangible form- as they began to light up like the Avatar’s. His dragon snarled at her, jumping forward to snap at her, even though she could not feel her body in the dream.  _

_ The man said nothing, watching her with glowing eyes as the scene shifted, and suddenly she was back in her mother’s garden by the turtleduck pond.  _

_ She didn’t know why she kept coming back here in dreams. _

_ This wasn’t her place, it was mother’s and Zuko’s. She wasn’t welcome in their space, so she didn’t know why she’d found herself there almost every night since she’d left the palace for her mission. _

_ There was no one there, not even a young unscarred Zuko to say bizarre things to her. She looked around the garden. She had a body again, but could see no one else around.  _

_ “Hello?” she called out, only to be met with a deafening silence.  _

_ She ran out of the garden into the corridor, but still she saw nobody. Desperate, she ran to the throne room, but the fires were all gone, and the room was cold, the floor littered with ash.  _

_ Confused, she ran outside again, climbing up towards the roof to the balcony that oversaw the city.  _

_ When she got to the top, she looked out to see nothing but ash and ruin. Where the city had been was now charred stone and mounds that probably acted as mass graves. She turned her head, but everything around the palace had been burned to a crisp. _

_ There was nothing left. She was the only one left.  _

_ Suddenly, she heard something that sounded like flapping, and turned only to see Zuko riding on top of another large, red dragon.  _

_ “Zuko!” she cried, almost in relief. She wasn’t the only one left! _

_ But he just stared at her coldly. “Look at what you’ve done, Azula,” he gestured at all the burned houses around them, the charred landscape. “You’re the ruler, but you have nothing and nobody left to rule over.” _

_ She shook her head. It wasn’t possible. “I wouldn’t do that,” she argued. Of course she wanted subjects, and needed a strong nation to rule over. She wouldn’t do...that, she thought, looking at the smoking rubble of the Capital stark against the noonday sun. _

_ “But you did.” he said sternly.  _

_ Azula walked towards him, voice unnaturally high and garbled, almost inhuman, even for a dream, “But I have you, right, Zuzu?” _

_ She could feel consciousness tugging at her as he shook his head, “Not anymore,” he frowned, looking genuinely sad as he stared down at her with pity, “And now I have to kill you.” _

“ _ Wait! _ -” she screamed, but even as she said it, the dragon’s mouth opened and fire peeled away at all her senses, forcing her awake again. 

Quickly, she grabbed the hand mirror, examining her features. She looked tired, shadowy rings growing underneath her eyes, but other than that, she looked fine. 

Except the burning sensation still tingled across her body in phantom waves, and her cheeks were unusually red and flushed. And her hair was a mess. 

She looked into her own eyes, but all she could think about were the dragon’s eyes right before it had killed her. They were pale yellow like her brother’s. And they were filled with hate for her. 

It was the last thing she’d seen. 

Her own amber eyes just looked confused. She looked  _ scared _ . 

She flung the mirror down to the ground shrieking as it shattered into a hundred small, sharp glass pieces. 


	10. The Egg

“Their fire was beautiful. I saw so many colors, colors I've never imagined!” Zuko enthused as he unwrapped the steaming corn husk in front of him, curiously biting into the dough beneath, and enjoying the unexpected flavor and spice of whatever minced meat they’d put inside. He smiled, pouring more of the red chili sauce over it and taking another big bite. 

Aang ate his own, curiously, and Zuko saw his entree was filled with something that looked like corn. The younger boy nodded sagely, “Like firebending in true harmony.”

Beside them, the Sun Warrior chief nodded, eating his own meal, “Yes. They judged you, and gave you visions of the meaning of firebending.”

Apparently, the acceptance of the master’s meant the acceptance and full welcome of the Sun Warriors, and Zuko and Aang had happily accepted the invitation to spend another night in the city and enjoy a small honorary feast to celebrate the master’s bestowing another blessing. 

Zuko shook his head, enjoying the unfamiliar, but comfortingly spicy food, “I can't believe there are still living dragons! I mean, my uncle Iroh said he faced the last dragon and killed it.” He shook his head. 

Aang looked up, “So your uncle lied?”

Surprisingly, the Chief smiled, “Actually, it wasn't a total lie. Iroh  _ was  _ the last outsider to face the masters. They deemed him worthy and passed the secret onto him as well.”

Zuko’s eyes widened, and a childish part of himself pouted at Uncle not telling him such a cool secret, but then he realized that it was also a dangerous secret under the current Fire Nation regime. 

“He must have lied to protect them, so no one else would hunt them.” Zuko smiled, excited to tell Uncle about this as soon as he could. He felt a mixture of pride and annoyance, and he’d make sure to add both to his letter. 

Aang cut in, shaking his head, “All this time, a part of me still thought that firebending was destruction. Since I hurt Katara, I've been too afraid and hesitant,” he looked up guiltily, “And even after learning from you, Zuko, a part of me couldn’t let go of my own bias….But now I know what it really is...it's energy, and life.” He smiled.

Zuko smiled back, “Yeah. It's like the Sun!” he curled his hand into a fist, excited about his new understanding, but struggling to put it into words, “but inside of you. Do you know what I mean?”

The Sun Warrior chief who’d obviously warmed up to them a bit smiled coyly, “Well, our civilization is called the Sun Warriors ... so _yeah_.”

Zuko hid his blush by taking a big drink of water, but suddenly the doors to the hall burst open and Ham Ghao came running in, looking frantic. Immediately, the Chief stood, face serious again. 

“What’s happened?”

The other man panted slightly, eye wild, “I-it...it just happened, the temple….it….the message and-” he shook his head, and it seemed Zuko wasn’t the only one struggling for the right words that night. “T-the egg! It’s finally time!”

Silence enveloped them all before Aang spoke up, “Er...what does that mean?”

The Chief’s own eyes were wide, but his voice was steady as it rang out. “It means that after a hundred years, the last dragon egg will finally hatch.”

There was a flurry of movement as the Chief left the table, the meal completely forgotten, and everyone else in the hall followed, unable to hide their immense surprise and excitement. 

Zuko was shocked too, but felt Aang tug at his arm. “C’mon! We’re not going to miss this either!”

With that, they followed the swarm of Sun Warriors up the hill outside, running towards the temple. 

* * *

Aang stared at the golden egg which had been placed on a new podium in front of the Eternal Flame. He could sort of see it glowing a bit, and it  _ did  _ feel more alive, sort of like Zuko had said after he’d picked it up-

_ Who knew Zuko had been right all along?  _

Aang smiled as everyone crowded around, murmuring excitedly as the Chief examined the egg, nodding and confirming Ham Ghao’s words. 

“So how do you hatch it?” Aang asked curiously as the Chief turned. 

“The egg’s chosen protector must use fire to help the egg hatch.”

“So who’s the mom? Or uh, protector?” Aang wondered, looking at the shiny gold thing, trying to imagine a whole dragon squished up in there. 

“There is no parent in the way you know of them,” The Chief said, “This egg was a gift from Ran and Shaw, though they are not the ones who will raise it. The egg must have a guardian, someone chosen to act as its protector and guide.”

Aang nodded since that actually made a lot of sense to him. The Air Nomads had operated somewhat similarly afterall.

“So who’s that?” Zuko asked. 

A warrior in what looked like a ceremonial robe near the top of the altar spoke up, “The egg chooses. It will imprint on whoever it allows to touch it first.”

“Allows?” Aang asked, voice small, suspicion creeping in…

“Yes,” Ham Ghao said, sounding very perturbed, “if the egg does not accept, it can be very dangerous, which is why we kept in hidden away before _ you two morons managed to knock it off its pedestal _ -”

The Chief cut his second off with a look. “Ham Ghao is right, touching the egg without its acceptance can be deadly, which is why it has been locked away for nearly a century now.”

Aang frowned, “So the person who first touched it, who it imprinted on...are they  _ gone  _ now?” He and Zuko shared a frown.  _ That would mean the egg couldn’t be hatched without that bender’s help, right? And  _ most  _ people didn’t survive a century trapped in an iceberg… _

The Chief frowned, “Nobody touched the egg to place it in the Dragon’s Temple. Ran and Shaw placed it there themselves...No human has had contact with this egg for almost a hundred years.”

Aang gulped, “So, the first person to have touched it would be…”

The Chief nodded grimly, “Its chosen, yes.”

Aang’s eyes widened as he turned to stare at Zuko’s profile. Slowly everyone else did the same, until every eye was on Zuko who rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably, looking between the egg and the Chief. 

“... _ Oops? _ ” he said sheepishly.

And only Zuko could look so awkward and surly after bringing back a line of extinct mythical creatures. 

Aang tried not to laugh as Ham Ghao groaned loudly and the Chief’s lips thinned. 

“Congratulations, Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation. This dragon egg is yours to hatch.”

Zuko looked down at him, eyes comically wide and Aang could no longer bite back his laugh as it poured forth and he imagined  _ Zuko  _ hatching an egg.

* * *

“I’m really proud of you,” Aang whispered, and Zuko growled.

“Shut up.”

“No, really, I think you’re going to be a  _ great  _ mother-”

Zuko elbowed him and the gut, but it was worth it as tears of laughter sprang to his eyes. 

They entered the hut they’d slept in the night before and Zuko curled up sullenly, facing away from Aang. 

Apparently, they needed to wait until noon the next day when the sun was at its peak to try the hatching, otherwise it wouldn’t work .

For a moment, he almost felt bad for teasing. Zuko was obviously nervous and overwhelmed about this  _ very  _ unexpected responsibility. 

As soon as he thought it, Zuko flipped over and stared at Aang imploringly,  _ “I don’t know how to hatch an egg, Aang!” _ His voice was so earnest, it made Aang break out into a renewed peal of laughter at the absurdity of the situation, and Zuko began throwing things at him. 

Aang stopped laughing finally as a piece of seal jerky flew past his ear, “O-okay...I’m sorry, Zuko,” he tried not to smile again, “I’ll be serious now….um...I’m sure that once the Chief and elders tell you what to do, and your maternal instincts kick in-”

Aang couldn’t keep a breathless laugh from escaping as Zuko’s shoe nailed him on the forehead. 

_ It was worth it.  _

* * *

The next day, Zuko trudged back up the hill toward the Temple of the Eternal Flame. He felt groggy and not at all prepared since the _craziness_ and _ridiculousness_ of his situation had kept him up all night. 

More than anything, though, he was scared the egg had chosen wrong. That he’d somehow mess up, and then the dragons’ last hope of thriving again would be ruined by him because  _ he always ruined everything- _

He felt Aang nudge him from the side and looked down as the boy sent him a small encouraging smile. 

Even though Aang had gotten a good amount of laughs from the situation, Zuko was still grateful he was the one here with him. 

Of course, he missed Katara and Toph, but Sokka would be even worse about the teasing, and Zuko really needed Aang’s laidback ability to adapt to anything right now to even out his own anxiety and rigidness.

They finally reached the top of the hill where the Chief, his seconds, and the temple keepers were already waiting for them, looking very intense and serious. Zuko was glad he hadn’t eaten anything for breakfast, otherwise he was afraid he might have thrown it up by now. 

“Prince Zuko,” The Chief greeted, bowing slightly, and Zuko bowed back deeply in the Fire Nation style. “The time has come. You have been chosen by the egg to act as the first protector in a New Age of Dragons...Do you accept this responsibility?”

Zuko’s stomach ached, but he looked at the egg, and remembered the warmth and connection he’d felt when he’d first held it. He remembered the day before, the masters’ blessing, the visions of the true meaning of firebending...How he’d longed to correct for his ancestor’s mistakes and share his new understanding with the rest of his people. 

It seemed like this was an opportunity for him to start making amends.

He nodded solemnly. “I do.”

“Then approach.” Ham Ghao looked sour, but he went to the Eternal Flame, bowed, then brought over the flame to Zuko, who took it carefully. 

The temple keepers in their dark robes began chanting something in a tongue Zuko did not recognize, and one of them began beating on a drum. Unlike the frenetic rhythm of the music the day before, the beat was slower, more solemn. 

“Remember the message of the masters, Prince Zuko. Call upon your newfound wisdom.” Zuko nodded, locking eyes with the Chief. 

Everyone held their breath, Zuko included, as he lifted the cradled flame up slowly, stepping towards the shining egg. 

Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and remembered the swirling colors, the painless heat of the dragonfire he’d seen, the way it felt to move in perfect harmony with the original benders. 

_ Fire is life.  _

He let out his breath, opening his eyes, and pushed the flame forward until it engulfed the egg completely, burning with specks of violet and green and pink. 


	11. The Cracks

Zuko felt a pang of excitement as he saw the specks of color dotting his flame, and he heard Aang whoop happily beside him, making him blush proudly. 

It wasn’t the first time his friends had been proud of him for his bending since he’d joined the Avatar, but it was the first time he’d felt truly, genuinely proud of _himself_ for it. 

He briefly wondered if this is what Azula felt like, the rush of pride in your own flame, how indestructible it made you feel-

But he banished that train of thought, not wanting to let his thoughts spiral again. He returned all his focus to keeping the flame around the egg big and hot enough to engulf it, but cool enough not to overwhelm it.

_Come on_ , he thought, _you can do it._ He tried to envision the baby dragon inside and tried to pour all of his encouragement into his flame as it surrounded the egg.

Suddenly, he felt a tug low in his gut as his inner flame sparked, responding to something inside the egg. He gasped as he felt the connection, and in his moment of distraction, his flames died down. 

There was a tense moment before the sound of a loud crack echoed across the temple walls making the others gasp as well.

They all watched in amazement as the egg’s golden exterior split down the middle. 

Zuko’s eyes widened as he saw a small pair of talons creep along the edges of the fracture, poking out as something chipped away at another piece, making a growing hole at the top. 

Zuko’s stomach swooped as a tiny spout of fire rose from the small hole in the top, melting at the edges and growing it wide enough for a small, red and scaly body to crawl out. 

Immediately, the Sun Warriors bowed down in reverence, but Zuko couldn’t move or take his eyes off of the small, impossibly small dragon in front of him. It gazed back at him with eerily similar golden eyes as the Chief called out, “A new master has been born to us. Thank Ran and Shaw for their blessing.”

The others muttered in assent before standing, watching as the dragon unfurled its tiny leathery wings, staring at them and twisting its neck, as if figuring out exactly how to deal with having a body. 

On instinct, Zuko stepped forward, hand held out, and the small dragon considered it, sniffing at it curiously. 

Then ignoring his hand altogether, the dragon suddenly stretched out its small wings and flew up, landing on Zuko’s right shoulder. 

He let out a surprised laugh and smiled as the dragon let out a happy puff of fire in response.

“Zuko,” Aang breathed out, “it’s amazing.”

“Yes,” Zuko said, smiling proudly, “He is.” He stroked his left finger along the dragon’s bumpy spine, and he let out a puff of happy smoke, talons tightening on Zuko’s shoulder as his tail wrapped around his neck, tickling it slightly. 

“What are you gonna name him!” Aang asked excitedly, before turning to the Chief and elders sheepishly, “If you’re allowed, that is.”

The Chief nodded, “You may choose.” 

Zuko nodded, thinking as he continued to stroke the creature’s spine. He remembered a story Aang had told them back on the Fire Nation ship ages ago; One night around the campfire, he’d told them the story one of his friends from the Eastern Air Temple had told him about a mythological beast known as the “Thunder Dragon” or in their local tongue, the “Druk”.

He smiled at Aang, giving his new friend a small scratch behind the ears, enjoying the warmth as he huffed, almost purred happily, emanating small warm rumbles from the center of his body. 

He wanted Druk's birth to symbolize not only a turning point for the dragons, but as a turning point for everything the Fire Nation had tried to destroy that had managed to live on. He looked down at Aang, thinking about how he too was the last of his kind and a symbol of hope and rebirth and change.

“Druk. His name is Druk, first dragon of the New Age of Dragons.”

Druk growled in appreciation and gave another blast of flames. Zuko smiled and let his own flames join Druk’s, watching them spiral and twist around each other like Ran and Shaw had. 

Aang smiled up at him as he recognized the name, and he reached up to pet the dragon too. "Hey, Druk! Nice to meet you, I'm Aang."

For the first time, Zuko was absolutely sure that Ozai had been wrong his entire life. Zuko had _not_ been lucky to be born. _He_ was the one born lucky. 

And Ozai’s mistake would be his downfall. 

* * *

They’d stopped for a few hours to refuel at a small Fire Nation military outpost tucked in the northern region of the Patola mountain range. 

Azula and Ty Lee were waiting inside the outpost commander’s quarters which she’d commandeered when a man holding a messenger hawk appeared. 

“For you, Your Highness.”

She nodded shortly, taking the man’s message, unfolding it as she left. 

Her eyes fell to the bottom of the parchment where she saw the seal of the Dai Li. Eyes widening a bit, she began at the top. 

Her hands shook as she read, and she began laughing out loud, though it sounded wrong to her own ears.

The sound made Ty Lee come over. “Azula?” she asked, sounding concerned, “What is it? What does it say?”

Azula just laughed a bit louder, chucking the parchment to Ty Lee so she could read it, “Uh….it says your spy network intercepted a message to the Fire Lord,” to the girl’s credit, she didn’t draw notice to the mildly treasonous measure Azula had put in place after taking over the Dai Li forces.

“....something from the Fire Sages....they say that….” Ty Lee’s mouth dropped open a little bit as she finally faltered. 

She looked up at Azula, grey eyes wide and shocked. “ _Dragons?_ ” She shook her head, rereading the parchment, “How is that possible? How can they come back _now_ if they've been extinct for almost a century?”

Azula smiled at her humorlessly, “It’s _Zuko_.”

Azula just started laughing again, her breaths hitching with the sound until she could barely breathe and had to put an arm on the window sill to support herself. Her laughs turned to wheezing, and a few seconds later the panic set in. 

She felt her knees weaken as her grip weakened and she found herself on her knees, still laughing uncontrollably.

She felt Ty Lee’s hands bracing her shoulders, “Azula, you don’t know for sure it’s the Avatar-”

Azula finally looked up snarling, “I didn’t say it was _the Avatar’s fault! I said it was Zuko’s!_ ”

  
She shook her head, “He always...ruins... _everything_!” she screamed, letting out an arc of fire, setting all the papers on the commander’s table alight. 

Ty Lee ignored the outburst, “You still don’t know-”

_“Of course I do!”_ Azula screamed again, shoving Ty Lee away from her as she stood and ignoring the hurt in the girl’s eyes as she fell backwards. 

_“Get out.”_

“ _Azula-_ ”

“I _won’t_ ask twice.”

Azula didn’t look back up until she heard the door to the room slam, and then she sunk back to the floor, laughing, which turned to angry sobs as she pulled at her hair. 

Zuko had somehow managed to find dragons again, she was _sure_ of it. 

She’d seen him on the dragon in her dream before he _killed_ her and she _knew_. 

_He had dragons and the Avatar, he now had lightning, he’d always had mother’s love, everyone loved Zuko more than her. Apparently, even Agni. No matter what she did, even with her blue flames, her prodigious skill, her unwavering loyalty, she could never win._

_He was so unworthy, always had been, but he was always finding ways to-_

She screamed furiously. _Father can never know_. 

_It was always going to come down to this_ , she thought, standing numbly. 

_Me versus him. The final showdown. The fight for the soul of the Fire Nation. The fight for the throne._

_It was always going to end in blood. Ozai had known this was coming and he’d chosen her._

A small part of her felt broken at the conclusion...She’d _just_ realized how little she _wanted_ to kill Zuko in the first place, and now she had no choice.

“Oh well,” she said, voice small as she straightened and brushed off her armor and fixed her hair. 

“Better him than me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok the thing about Aang's friend from the Eastern Air Temple is bc Druk is the word for Dragon used in Bhutanese mythology and since Bhutan is culturally closest to Tibetan culture which the Air Nomads are coded as, I thought it made sense 
> 
> At least more sense than Zuko knowing it off the top off his head, since even though the show throws in Hindu gods like Agni into the East Asian coded Fire Nation kinda willy nilly, I thought that him knowing anything about Bhutanese culture or language was a bit of a stretch.
> 
> Anways, woohoo, who doesn't love a baby dragon?
> 
> For anyone who didn't know, Druk does show up in canon in Legend of Korra (or so I've heard, I haven't watched it), but I'm totally making up his origin story and inserting him wayyyy before the canon would.
> 
> \---->Also, there will be lots of fluff coming up to counterbalance this Azula Angst-fest lol


	12. The Caretakers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alternately titled "Katara v. the unfair distribution of domestic labor"

Katara looked up at the sky, sighing when she saw nothing but the peaceful drift of clouds. She poked at the rice boiling in the pot. She’d felt sad and melancholy ever since she’d been forced to drag out and use the spark rocks buried deep in their supplies that she hadn’t had to use in months.

It had only been a few days, but she missed both Zuko and Aang terribly, and she couldn’t help but worry about them. She ladled some rice into a bowl and passed it to Sokka. “Here,” she said dully. He grunted and took it as she handed some to Toph. 

Toph took a bite before gagging dramatically. “Yikes, Sugar Queen, do you season according to your mood?”

Katara scowled as she handed Haru his bowl. “No,” she grumbled while Toph scraped at her tongue. 

“Well, then did you season this with your _tears_ because-”

“If you want less salty food or _any_ food for that matter, how about you make it for yourself!” She stood up, frustration building as she looked around at all of them. 

Of course Teo, Haru, and The Duke had never been anything but polite, yet still they never offered to do more than the bare minimum. It was still _her_ taking care of everybody, acting like everyone’s _mom_ at the end of the day, and she was _sick of it._

Zuko’s absence and the lack of his help only exacerbated the situation and made her realize just how unevenly distributed their labor around the camp was. And she was over it. 

“You know what? I’m done! I’m done with the _cooking_ and _cleaning_ and _laundry_ and _mending_ ! It’s not fair that I have to do _all_ of it just because I’m the _girl_. It’s sexist!”

Sokka looked confused, “But if you don’t cook, who will?”

Katara shrugged grumpily. “I don’t care. Zuko can cook, and he didn’t learn until he was banished! The rest of you can learn how too.”

Toph sat up a bit, “Listen, Princess, I pull my own weight-”

“No, you don’t, Toph! I love you, but you’re a real spoiled brat sometimes, and you of all people should back me up in this.” She shook her head. “I don’t know, we can pull shifts okay, switch it up? Please…”

She looked at Sokka imploringly, “Maybe you could cook tonight?” she suggested, trying to sound nice and upbeat. 

He frowned, “Umm...well,” he looked around without meeting her eye, “I have to go out to hunt and fish, to get _you_ the meat to cook, which is really the hard job-”

Katara balled up her fist, her anger accidentally making some of the water in the pot splash up. She spun on her heel and began stalking towards the forest. 

“Where are you going?” she heard Sokka call after her. 

“To _hunt_ and _fish_ ,” she called back. “I wouldn’t want you to _overwork_ yourself!”

* * *

Aang watched in fascination as Druk explored he and Zuko’s little hut, sniffing at their belongings, poking at the piece of seal jerky still on the floor from where Zuko had thrown it at his head the night before. 

“What do dragons eat, anyways?”

Zuko’s eyes widened. “Um...I don’t know...Maybe I should go _ask_?”

Aang shrugged, holding the piece of jerky up to Druk who took a cautious bite then spit it out. 

“So, not seal jerky I guess..” Zuko said, watching. 

Aang smiled, “Maybe he’s a vegetarian too!”

Zuko eyed him warily before they saw Druk snap his tiny sharp teeth, “Yeah, somehow I doubt it.”

Aang just shrugged, turning back to Druk as he continued exploring their room. The Sun Warriors had known surprisingly little about the actual details of dragon rearing. For all of their expertise, the fact remained that none of them had actually been alive to see an adolescent dragon, and Ran and Shaw fended for themselves.

They both watched as Druk gave off an adorable little puff of smoke, jaw widening in what looked like a tiny yawn. Aang resisted the urge to _coo_ at him. 

“I think he’s tired,” Zuko said and Aang looked out the small window of their room.

“It’s barely afternoon yet!” Aang said, surprised.

“Yeah, well _being born_ takes a lot of energy, okay?” Zuko scowled defensively as the dragon began crawling up his leg. He bent down and pulled the little dragon into his arms, and Aang again had to resist the urge to _coo_ as the baby dragon nuzzled against Zuko’s chest. 

Aang bit the inside of his lip as Zuko began slightly... _swaying_ back and forth, and….humming? Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore.

“Are you...rocking him and singing a lullaby?”

Zuko looked up suddenly, glaring, and Druk also glared at Aang the moment Zuko ceased his movement like he was mad at the interruption. 

“NO!..... _Shut up_ ….Go check on Appa or something!” Zuko muttered, going back to rocking Druk who nestled back into the crook of his elbows, rumbling happily. 

Aang decided to give Zuko some space, but as he left the hut and walked out into the bright afternoon light towards the entrance of the city, he couldn’t keep the grin off of his face.

  
  


* * *

Katara sat at the edge of the river, reaching out and letting the energy of the constant, steady motion of its current calm her down. 

She couldn’t decide whether her outburst at the temple had been well deserved or an overreaction, and she hated feeling so indecisive about her own feelings. She hated feeling like her emotions were ruling her, but sometimes she couldn’t help it. 

She sighed, looking down to see if any fish were coming. 

Eventually, she saw the glint of a multicolored scale near a slimy rock and smiled, standing in a half-crouch, concentrating. 

Carefully, she pulled the water around the trout into an orb and brought it out of the water, letting it fall on the bank beside her. She frowned as the large fish shuddered and gasped for air. 

She hated her own bleeding heart sometimes...the way she could throw men overboard without flinching, but could barely stand to look at a suffocating fish. 

Sighing, she reached a hand out, freezing it through. It seemed a quicker, more merciful end and it might make it easier to carry back, not to mention fresher than even Sokka’s best kills. 

She wished Zuko were there for her to complain to. She thought he’d understand, and at the very least he’d help her cook the fish up well.

As much as she wanted to prove her point, she was not looking forward to trying Sokka’s cuisine.

She looked up at the afternoon sun, deciding it was time for her to head back. 

_I hope you’re having a better day than me_ , she thought. 

* * *

Zuko yelped as Druk sent a burst of flames at him, singing the ends of a lock of his hair. 

“ _Bad_ Druk! No!” He said, but the little _monster_ just snorted smoke, laughing at him and continued to evade Zuko’s hands as he chased him around the hut. 

After a peaceful nap where Druk had eventually fallen asleep in between Zuko’s crossed legs as he happily petted the little guy’s scaly back, he’d woken up and become... _this_.

He kept flapping around the room, sending off unpredictable bursts of flame dangerously close to the thatched straw roof. Zuko didn’t think burning down their guest room would help him keep favor with the Sun Warrior Chief and his people. 

“What’s _wrong_ with you?” he complained at the zooming red menace, “You were so cute before, now you’re just…” He ducked as Druk sent a small flame towards his head again in rebuke. Zuko desperately tried to think of what he knew about babies and toddlers and children in general which was, essentially, nothing. 

“Are you _hungry_ ? Do you need to...use the _bathroom_?” He cringed at how awkward his own words sounded, and how pitiful he was for asking the dragon questions like he’d just answer him or something. 

“Ummm…Do you have a lot of energy now you’re up from your nap?” Druk hovered in front of him, tilting his head, “ _Yeah_? Is that it? Do you need to go for a fly or something...burn some of it off?”

He took Druk’s puff of smoke as a _yes_ and held up his arm. 

“Okay, come on then.” Druk obliged and settled on Zuko’s forearm like a messenger hawk as Zuko walked to the door, unlatching it as they walked outside. The sky was just beginning to darken, but Druk rumbled happily as they walked out into the fresh air, and Zuko couldn’t help but smile as the dragon leapt from his perch and flew ahead of Zuko. 

He did a few turns in the air, swooping and diving playfully, like he was figuring out the extent of his own abilities. Zuko couldn’t help but marvel at how quickly Druk seemed to pick up...well, _everything_ , and he wondered just how quickly dragons grew. 

But that line of thought ended with him trying to corral a temperamental full size dragon, capable of burning down a whole city, and he squashed that panicked thought down, trying to focus on the small, relatively manageable creature in front of him. 

Zuko walked behind Druk, letting him take the lead as they meandered throughout the Sun City’s bright stone streets. Druk hovered patiently or circled back whenever he got too ahead of Zuko who followed him all the way out to a large field outside one of the city’s lower walls. 

Druk led him up a grassy hill, and Zuko breathed out happily as he saw the sight at the top. The sun was sinking beneath the horizon, casting a blood orange glow to the mountains and sky and everything around them. 

Zuko smiled as Druk let out a happy burst of flame, and he laughed- actually _laughed out loud_ \- as he opened his mouth and let out his own flame, mimicking the dragon hovering by his shoulder. 

Eventually Druk settled on Zuko’s shoulder, talons stinging a bit as they pressed against his skin, but he was too happy to care as they began to head back towards the center of the city. 

“I can’t wait to show you home, bud,” he said, scratching the dragon under the chin. 

_And by home, of course, he meant the rest of his family._

* * *

Katara did a few bending forms next to the fountain, decidedly _not_ spying on Sokka who was clanging around with her best cooking pan and the fish she’d somewhat smugly dropped in front of him an hour ago. 

She turned to see him frowning at her bag of seasoning and extra vegetables, holding a long wooden spoon by the wrong end. 

She returned her focus to her bending form. 

_Gentle, calm, fluid, I am like the flowing water of-_

Another loud clang made her flinch, and she gave up, spinning around and walking over towards the campfire. 

_At least he knows how to start the fire_ , she thought to herself. 

Sokka looked up at her miserably, “I’m sorry, Katara, I don’t know what I’m doing-” He held the bag of ingredients and spoon out to her hopefully. “Will you take over for me?”

She shook her head firmly, and he frowned. “No...But I will help teach you, so you can do it on your own in the future, okay?”

He sighed but nodded, “Okay, thanks...Deal.”

She sat down. 

“First off, you have to _cut_ the vegetables,” she picked up the right knife and board, demonstrating how to cut up the wild mushrooms they had leftover. Sokka took the knife after her and mimicked her movement, cutting them up. 

She nodded, “Good, now, which pan are you going to use?” Sokka held up the smaller of the two.

“Alright, now what are you going to saute your vegetables in?”

“Um...what?” he asked, and Katara resisted the urge to roll her eyes. 

“What are you going to put in the pan?”

“The _vegetables_ ,” he said like it was obvious. This time she _did_ roll her eyes. 

“Okay, _sure_ , but you have to cook them in _something_ , like a sauce of some kind.”

He watched her as she pulled over the bag of ingredients. “Seems like we’re down to just sesame oil which should be fine...we used up all the rice vinegar, and Zuko likes to use soy sauce or mirin, but we haven’t had that since we were able to stock up in a Fire Nation town.”

He listened as she explained, “You like it when we use that, it makes the vegetables taste sweeter...Most of the Fire Nation seasoning is spicier, but that’s a good technique to remember...and of course, whenever we go back home, you’ll have to settle for seal or whale fat, but you can always add in whatever seasonings you’d like, despite what Toph and Aang think, Water Tribe cuisine _can_ use more than just salt-”

She paused, realizing he’d been quiet for too long. Sokka was never quiet this long.

“What’s wrong?” she asked him. 

He shrugged, “It’s just...there’s more to it than I realized.”

She nodded, “Yes, it’s not easy. Especially when we’re traveling like this, and I have so few ingredients and tools and everyone is always hungry, but never wants the same thing twice.”

He looked down, looking a bit guilty, “I’m sorry, I...I know we...I know _I_ take you for granted a lot, but I just want to say sorry for it...I’m working on it.”

She nodded. “Thank you for apologizing.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “And you did a good job...with the fish.”

She smiled at him graciously. “Thanks, Sokka...Maybe next time you can show me how to use your land traps.”

He smiled back at her. “Sure thing, sis.”

She passed him the sesame oil and watched as he began to prepare the vegetables under her instruction. 

* * *

That night, the fish was burnt and the vegetables were bland and soggy, doused in too much oil and cut too finely to absorb it all, but Katara ate it all anyways, smiling proudly at her big brother from across the campfire. 

_He’d get better. She’d help him._

The thought made her happier than she’d felt since the others had left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> filler & fluff, folks, filler & fluff


	13. The Return

Aang waved goodbye to the group of Sun Warriors who’d gathered at the entrance of the city to see them off as Appa rose into the sky, rumbling happily, glad to stretch his legs again after several days of just grazing and roaming and napping. 

“Yeah, it’s good to be back up here, bud,” Aang smiled, patting Appa’s fuzzy head before tilting his head to look back at Zuko. 

He was really happy for his friend, especially since he knew how important his own bond with Appa was. Being soul-bonded to a companion like that was an honor and one of the greatest possible joys in life, or at least that’s what Gyatso had told him. 

That while compassion and bonds to people were important, the unspoken mutual understanding and connection with a creature not built on common tongue, but on mirrored souls was a true blessing. 

He smiled as he saw the dragon curled around Zuko’s neck like a scaly scarf.

“Maybe one day, when Druk’s bigger, you’ll be able to fly with him! Just like me and Appa!”

Zuko looked thoughtful, “We’ll cross that bridge when he’s bigger than me, okay?” Aang nodded, wondering just _how_ big he’d get...whether he’d be as big as Ran and Shaw, or if they were merely that size because they were masters.

“Hey! I bet you’ll look just like Roku on his dragon,” Aang teased.

“Or Sozin,” Zuko muttered darkly. 

“Nah,” Aang shook his head, trying to interrupt one of Zuko’s angsty thought spirals, “Druk’s red...plus you’re gonna be taller than Sozin.”

Zuko snorted, and Aang felt proud at effectively distracting Zuko before he could get too spirally. Zuko seemed happier ever since they’d learned from the masters and Druk was hatched, and Aang wanted to keep it that way. 

He’d never tell him for fear of getting a fireball near the head, but Zuko had a really great smile, and Aang always felt a bit better whenever he saw it. 

He shook his head, “Sokka is going to lose his _mind_ when he sees.”

Zuko groaned loudly. 

_“Don’t remind me.”_

* * *

Toph sighed in frustration as she stirred the rice in the pot. Katara was still on her “even distribution of labor” kick, so Toph had been forced to boil her own rice or starve.

As she stirred uselessly, unable to see how it was doing or feel it with her senses, she started to consider the second option. 

“This isn’t fair,” she mumbled, “I can’t even see it.”

She felt Katara sit down next to her. “That’s never stopped you from doing anything before.”

Toph shook her head, “It’s different, alright? It’s just...not in my skillset,” she frowned at the admission.

She felt Katara lean over the pot, “So you never helped your mom cook at all back at home?”

“No. She didn’t need to cook because we had so many servants, but even if she had...they wouldn’t want _poor, helpless little old me_ near the kitchen and all those _dangerous_ fires and whatnot.” She couldn’t keep the bitterness from her voice. She’d never gotten a reply to the letter Katara had helped her pen to her mother, and she didn’t want to admit how much it stung. 

“Alright then,” Katara said, “I’ll just help you.”

Toph scrunched her nose, “I don’t need your pity-”

Katara sighed, “ _Help_ isn’t the same as pity, Toph...Besides, literally _all_ of you need cooking lessons, you have no idea how much I had to micromanage Sokka, he was about as inept as they come.”

She heard a huff from across the campfire, “I’m _right_ here, I can hear you!”

Katara ignored this, “Since you can’t see it, you’ll just have to get a feel for the right consistency of things. And anything else you need, I can help with since it’s best to have two people cooking at any given point anyways...Many hands make light work!” 

Toph wanted to roll her eyes at the adage, but she could hear the underlying plea to try in Katara’s voice and remembered the girl’s simmering anger from the day before. 

She knew Sugar Queen was high strung and had gotten angry a lot when they were on the road in stressful or dangerous situations, but she didn’t realize quite how much she bottled up at any given moment until her anger exploded on them out of nowhere. 

And she _wasn’t_ a _spoiled brat_ , _thank you very much._

Or at least...she didn’t want her family to think of her like that.

So, yeah, _maybe_ Toph could make more of an effort to boil some stupid rice every now and then. 

She gave said rice a stir as she heard The Duke pipe up, “Hey! Look up there in the sky! They’re back!” She heard the telltale roll of wheels as Teo and Haru gathered. Immediately Sokka and Katara scrambled to their feet, and she heard them run over to the edge of the temple to watch Appa fly in. 

“I’ll just sit here, all alone with my rice, then,” she grumbled. 

* * *

Katara couldn’t keep the grin off her face as she saw the familiar furry blob get larger and larger as he approached the temple. She fidgeted, smoothing out her hair and skirt, leg bouncing. Finally they got close enough to land, and the minute she saw Zuko’s familiar figure, she ran forward to-

She stopped short, yelping as some kind of lizard creature hovered in front of her face, sniffing at her. She resisted the urge to swat at it. 

“What in Agloolik’s name is _that_?” she cried.

Zuko ran forward, and the… _dragon(?!?)_ Settled on his shoulder, purring protectively, almost glaring at her as she stared back in shock. Zuko smiled sheepishly. “Um...Katara, meet Druk.” he gestured at the dragon then at her, “Druk, Katara.”

She was gaping now. “ _What_? Am I supposed to shake hands with a….a…”

“He’s a dragon,” Zuko supplied helpfully. 

“ _We can see that!!_ ” Sokka cried, eyes bulging as he came to stand by her, examining, “But, _how-_ ”

Aang meandered over, eyes sparkling, “It’s a long story...like _really_ long...Maybe we can talk about it some more over some breakfast?” he turned towards the campfire hopefully. 

Katara tried to pull herself back together. “Yes, um, right...Toph’s cooking some conjee right now.”

“ _Toph_ ?? _Cooking_?” Zuko’s eyes widened. 

Sokka pulled at his hair, shrieking, “Gahh! You just brought back a _baby dragon_ from an _extinct civilization_ , and _that’s_ what’s most surprising to you?”

Zuko nodded, petting his...well, _Druk_. “Yeah, pretty much.”

Katara pulled Sokka back towards the campfire before he could go into total shock. She wasn’t ready to hear Zuko and Aang’s story on an empty stomach. 

* * *

Katara ate her...very _crunchy_ rice as they all listened to Zuko and Aang’s wild tale of a huge ancient city full of booby traps, secret ritual dances, discovering a hidden dragon egg, getting caught by real live Sun Warriors, finding the first flame, hiking a mountain, dancing in front of some dragons, then somehow learning the meaning of life because their fire was rainbow colored or something?

Oh, and then Zuko helped hatch the first dragon born in a century, because _why not?_

It was too much to process all at once, and _she’d_ found the Avatar frozen in an iceberg at age 14. 

“Wait, colored fire? You mean like...Azula’s?” She asked, finally putting the inedible food down. 

Zuko shook his head, “No...well, sort of, but not exactly, there were lots of colors in it! More than you could ever imagine, it was amazing,” she blushed as his eyes sparkled at the memory, “Remember when you tried to describe what the Aurora australis, the southern lights looked like? It was kind of like that it was... _amazing_!”

He took her hand and squeezed it, “You would’ve loved it, it was…” he frowned then smiled again, “Actually, I might be able to show you a bit!”

They all perked up at the offer of a demonstration. He closed his eyes, concentrating like he was meditating before his features settled peacefully and he opened his palm. A small flame popped up. At first, it looked just like any other flame he’d ever produced, but as Katara watched, she saw the tips crackles with flecks of different colors like pink, violet, green, and blue. 

She gasped. “Zuko, that..that’s incredible! It’s beautiful!” They shared a smile, and she felt a surge of pride fill her as the others all _ooh’d_ and _ahh’d_. 

Even Toph spoke up, “Well, obviously I can’t see it, but it feels a lot stronger than when you left...a lot purer somehow...Good job, Sparky! Guess my advice paid off.”

Zuko just laughed, “Yeah, yeah it did, Toph. Thanks.”

Teo spoke up, “Wait, so tell us again how you found the egg in the first place…”

“And what is an _eternal_ flame?” Sokka added, “Like, how does that work, logistically speaking? What's the fuel source?-”

“Talk about the dragons!!” The Duke cried excitedly. 

“Why’d you name him _Druk_?” Haru wondered. 

She shared a quick smile with Zuko before he turned to Aang and they began recounting pieces of their story, answering everyone’s many questions. 

She settled back to listen and ask some more of her own. 

* * *

Sokka couldn't believe it. He knew the spirits must be messing with him because there was no way their little group included both the last air bender (and long lost Avatar) as well as the last (newly hatched) dragon egg. It was just _too_ uncanny.

He watched as the little lizard-looking thing climb down Zuko's arm, sniffing at the cooking fire in the middle of their group. Next to him, on the ground, Momo sniffed at Druk curiously and Sokka held his breath as the two creatures regarded each other cautiously. Momo chittered and Druk huffed some smoke. Sokka didn't know the difference between happy smoke and bad smoke, but he didn't _eat_ Momo, so he guessed it was the former.

"So what _does_ he eat?" Sokka asked, now that the thought actually crossed his mind. The others never took him seriously when he warned about the dangers of Appa eating Momo, and now there was one more creature he'd have to protect his winged furry friend from.

Zuko shrugged, looking at Aang, "He's not a jerky fan, but he'll eat fish and meat, preferably cooked...or _charred_ in his case."

Sokka nodded, eyeing the little guy with a newfound sense of respect, "A creature after my own heart," he said. 

Katara leaned back against Zuko's side, and Sokka noticed the way Druk crawled in between them, tiny body tensed defensively in front of Zuko, wings stretched out a bit. Everyone held their breath as Katara flinched back, frowning. She probably hadn't even consciously decided to try snuggling up to Zuko before his new dragon pet got territorial.

Zuko simply put his hands around Druk's middle, pulling the little beast into his lap and petting his head, shushing him of all things. "It's okay, Druk...It's okay...Katara is my... _friend_ ," Sokka would've laughed at the awkward way Zuko said it, sending an apologetic face toward Katara if he was not somehwat worried about the thing char-grilling his sister. 

_As if the dragon can understand or cares about your relationship status,_ Sokka thought. 

Though, even as Sokka thought it, Druk crawled back over Zuko's knee, eyeing Katara with his pale yellow eyes and slitted pupils as she looked back, sitting very still. 

He watched, just a bit anxiously as Katara shifted closer to Zuko and Druk. "Can...Can I touch him?" she asked cautiously, hand outstretched but eyes still cautious. Zuko nodded, and Sokka held his breath, ready to leap up and do... _something_ if he needed to as his little sister held her fingers up for the dragon to sniff at and examine. 

They all watched with bated breath as Druk sniffed at her fingers, then her wrist before nudging her hand with a sort of headbutt. She huffed in surprise, smiling as she looked up at Zuko. 

"I think he wants you to pet him behind the ears....or horns, or...whatever," Zuko gestured vaguely towards the dragon's features and Sokka snorted.

"Wow, you're really quite the expert on dragon anatomy now, aren't you?"

"Shut up," Zuko grumbled, though he didn't look bothered as he watched Druk rumble happily as Katara grew more bold in her ministrations. 

"No, really," Sokka smiled, winding back up, "I knew you were talented, Zuko, but to _hatch_ an _egg_? That must of taken a lot of skill...who knew you had it in you? I certainly couldn't tell-"

Sokka noted Zuko's dark blush with satisfaction. "I _found_ the egg, Sokka, and I used my _firebending_ to-"

Sokka threw his hand up, "No, yes, of course....that's what I meant too," he said innocently, though he shared an amused smirk with Aang, unable to hide his chuckle. 

"You know," Zuko regarded him thoughtfully, "You're actually handling this better than I expected, I thought you'd freak out a bit more...poke more fun..."

Sokka waved his hand, "Don't worry about that, I've got _plenty_ of time left to tease you for giving birth-," Zuko scowled, "- but I guess I'm just getting used to the universe messing with me...I mean my first girlfriend turned into the moon, how much weirder is this?"

Zuko shrugged sympathetically. "If _anything_ ," Sokka continued eyeing the small dragon thoughtfully, "this could be really helpful for us, I mean who knows what we could do with a _dragon_ on our side," Sokka thought, wheels in his brain turning. 

"He's just a _baby_ ," Zuko narrowed his eyes as he pulled Druk back into his lap defensively, cradling him like Sokka might run over and pick Druk up like a missile launcher.

"A baby that can _breathe fire_ and will eventually grow to the size of a building!" Sokka argued. 

Zuko shook his head, unimpressed, " _I_ can breathe fire-"

"But you can't fly!"

Zuko frowned impetuously, "I guess not."

Aang perked up, "I can fly! And Zuko is teaching me the Breath of Fire now!"

Both Sokka and Zuko shook their heads in unison this time. "Sorry, Aang," Sokka said, "but you'll just never be as cool as a dragon."

"He is rather cute, once you get past the fangs and stuff," Katara said, scratching his back as Druk preened, rumbling affectionately.

"I'm cute too!" Aang pouted. 

Zuko shook his head, "Have you _seen_ him?" he nodded at Druk as he began scratching him too, the dragon looking positively giddy with delight as both Zuko and Katara doted on him, looking disgustingly domestic as they did so. 

Though they both flinched back a little when Druk spouted off an unexpected little burst of flame, singing the tips of Zuko's stupidly long bangs before he put them out sheepishly. 

"You need a haricut," Sokka muttered, "and you need to teach _him_ how to control his firebending too!" he glared sternly at the smug looking little dragon. 

Katara nodded, "That's actually a good idea, Zuko-" _Of course it is_ , Sokka thought as she went on, "You'll need to learn how to train him so he doesn't accidentally hurt anybody."

Zuko nodded when _she_ said it and leaned down to _coo_ at the little dragon, "You hear that, buddy? You're gonna be my best little fire bending student ever..."

Aang frowned at the betrayal, "You've only had Druk for a day and a half!"

Zuko just hummed in agreement, "What's your point?"

* * *

Please enjoy the meme I made to accompany this chapter: 

<https://momonzuko.tumblr.com/post/625544808355774465>

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that awkward moment when you surprise your girlfriend with your new dragon child, enlightenment, and rainbow fire before she's even had a chance to finish her breakfast


	14. The Haircut

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is like fluffy angst or angsty fluff depending on how you look at it.

Zuko watched fondly as Druk spit a few sparks of fire on the temple’s floor next to the head of his bedroll before curling on the smoking floor to sleep. 

He caught Katara’s eye as she watched too and they both smiled before looking away shyly. He’d missed her a lot, an embarrassing amount really. And he’d only just realized how much now that he was back. 

He wouldn’t have traded his experience with the Sun Warriors for anything, but as he reached out to take her hand and hold it between them in the space between their bedrolls, he felt an overwhelming sense of relief and contentment. 

The others seemed more or less asleep already, giving them more privacy than they’d had since he’d returned. He hadn’t had the chance to give her more than a quick kiss on the head, and he hoped they’d have some time alone sooner than later. 

Though now that his “vacation” was over, Zuko was more determined than ever to finish Aang’s training so they could defeat Ozai and he could finally move on with his life. It was more full now than he ever could have imagined, and he desperately wanted it to stay that way for as long as he lived. 

But first, they had to end this war. 

“Uncle won’t be able to believe it,” he whispered, smiling in the dark, imagining the shocked look on his mild mannered Uncle’s face if he could see Druk right now. 

He saw the glint of her teeth as she smiled back, “I can’t believe he kept their existence a secret for such a long time, and that _you_ found them again, almost completely on a whim.”

Zuko nodded, imagining just how easily he could’ve forgotten about the right pieces of his fire bending history or never struggled with his bending balance or any other number of reasons that he and Aang might never have made it to that island. 

More than ever, it made him sure Agni had a hand in the events, and he was more grateful than ever. 

He remembered his days as a refugee in the desert, yelling up at the sky, asking the gods to strike him down. And now here he was. Under an open, but peaceful sky, surrounded by his former enemies and his new dragon companion. _The universe is funny like that_ , he thought, not for the first or last time. 

“So what did you do while we were gone?” he asked, curious. 

He saw her shoulder lift in a partial shrug, “Not much...not as much as you obviously…”

“I’d still like to know,” he said softly. 

“Well,” she began slowly, “before I got to Toph, I taught Sokka some cooking skills, and made _him_ cook while _I_ went to fish and hunt.”

His eyes widened in the dark. Toph’s attempts had been….well, _repulsive_ , and he doubted Sokka’s were that much better. 

He chuckled, “I don’t know, that sounds about as deadly as meeting dragons.”

“Ugh,” she groaned, “You have _no_ idea, and Toph thinks _I_ oversalt things,” she pouted, making him smile and reach out to run a finger through her hair. 

“Well, I’m glad you’re making the others help you, you shouldn’t have to do that sort of stuff all on your own.”

“You don’t think so?” Even though she’d sounded firm earlier when she told him and Aang about the “new system around here” of shared chores, he heard the hint of insecurity in her voice. “You don’t think I was overreacting?”

He thought about it, all the times he’d seen Sokka throw his laundry at her or Toph and Aang leave their dirty dishes lying around without a thought. All the times he himself had taken her for granted, had relied on her help and support without thinking twice. 

“No,” he said, “You do so much for everyone, Katara, you care about people so much, and you take care of them, that’s who you are, and...that’s one of the reasons I love you,” it was much easier to say it in the dark, “but you can’t be everything to everyone all the time.” 

He squeezed her hand as he heard her sigh. “I guess, but...I just want to be _useful…_ ”

“You’re a _master_ fighter, an _incredible_ healer, _and_ you help keep us alive on a day-to-day basis. Really, there’s almost _nothing_ you don’t do for all of us.”

“Well, when you put it like _that_...I guess I’m pretty incredible,” she joked weakly. 

“You _are_ ,” he said, making sure to put all the sincerity he had into the words. She never let him brush off her compliments and praise, so he wouldn’t let her do it either. 

He saw her hand stretch out to Druk, giving him a pet as the dragon snored softly, a few stray sparks leaving his nose.

“You know I worry about you too....trying too hard to take care of everyone but yourself..”

“I don’t-” he began to defend himself, but she just hushed him softly, continuing.

“You do, Zuko, really, but more importantly...I worry about you in the future.”

“The future?”

“I mean, it’ll make you an excellent Fire Lord, but you’ll need to remember how to keep balance, how to take care of yourself-”

“-Wait, what?” he interrupted quickly, “ _Fire Lord?_ ”

She huffed, “Well, yeah, I mean who else is going to take over once Ozai is defeated?”

He shuffled onto his back uncomfortably, suddenly anxious. “Uncle-?”

“Iroh is older, Zuko, he’ll have to step down eventually...besides he has a lot of baggage, and I think the Fire Nation needs a clean slate...It needs _you_.”

He shook his head just a bit despairingly. Of course, he’d been raised as a Crown Prince, but ever since his banishment, ascending to the throne had been an abstract goal at best, a child’s naive fantasy at worst. 

“I’m only sixteen, Katara,” he said, voice a bit hoarse, “I can’t-” he shook his head, gathering his thoughts, “Even if I survive, we win, and I take the throne, I just...I don’t know if I can handle that much responsibility from now until….until I _die_ ,” his chest tightened at the thought. 

“I’m _tired_ ,” he admitted, referring to more than just the exhaustion of the last month catching up to him, “And I don’t want it like I used to, I just want...I just want _this_ ,” he sighed, squeezing her hand. “You, me, all of us, _together_.”

“I know,” she responded, shifting so that she was flush against his side, head resting on his chest, “I know…”

He wanted to ask her if there was a chance he could have both...If he could take the throne and take back his home, but still keep the home he’d built for himself with all these people at his side. With her at his side. 

“What about you?” he breathed out, voice barely above a whisper, “When the war is over...What will you do?”

Instead of answering, she just hugged her arm tightly around him, burrowing in even closer. “You should get some sleep, Zuko, you must be exhausted.”

He felt her go limp at his side long before the tightness in his chest eased enough for him to start drowsing. 

_He couldn’t ask the question he really wanted, and she hadn’t given him an answer._

* * *

The next morning, Zuko woke up to a strange prickling heat above his head right as he smelled the vague aroma of burning hair.

Quickly stifling the panic of memories that smell brought about, he held up a tired hand to snuff the sparks, wearily peeking an eye open. 

Sure enough, Druk was hovering over him, staring at him expectantly. 

Sokka was right, he really needed a haircut, he thought as he untangled himself from Katara who was still sleeping soundly and stood up, following Druk who began flying towards the burnt logs of last night’s campfire. 

He turned to Zuko looking like he was waiting for something, and when Zuko just yawned and didn’t move he let out a shrill little screech, moving Zuko to action. 

He quickly grabbed the small dragon and held him close, shushing him. “Hey, hey, none of that, okay? Other people like to sleep in.”

The dragon looked at him curiously. 

“I know, I know, but they don’t feel the pull of the sun like we do...Are you hungry?” Druk flapped his wings happily, and Zuko let him go as he knelt by the cold logs, looking through their bag of provisions. 

He found the half of the large rainbow trout Katara had caught and safely refrozen the night before. Carefully, he put it in his palm, quickly thawing it out before cutting it into chunks and placing it on several sticks. He might as well use up their leftovers and help prepare a decent breakfast for everyone else. 

As he prepped the fish, he lit the logs back up, noticing the way the tips of his flames looked purple in his peripheral. He threw any excess bits to Druk who happily lunged to catch them in his mouth, chewing happily, if a bit sloppily. 

Zuko absently worried about just how much food they’d need to keep Druk fed once he started really growing.

He turned as he heard soft footsteps and saw Katara rubbing her eyes, hair ruffled and frizzy in the morning’s humidity. 

“Morning,” he smiled, still giddy at the simple sight of her, even after so many weeks spent together. 

She huffed in response, still a night owl and _not-a-morning-person_ by nature, even though she tended to wake before the others if only to help prepare breakfasts.

She reached out for the rice pot, looking grumpy, though she leaned in when he gave her a kiss on the cheek. 

“Go back to bed,” he said, and she glared at him.

“There’s a lot to do-”

He rolled his eyes, “I’m serious, just go back to bed. I can handle morning chores by myself...I’ll bring you breakfast in bed...or bed _roll_.”

She continued to frown, looking confused, and Zuko vaguely wondered if anyone had ever brought her breakfast to her like servants used to back at the palace. “You can make it up to me later by giving me a haircut...Deal?”

She smirked slightly, then, eying the singed tips of his shaggy hair. 

“Fine...Deal.”

He waited as she continued to stand before she finally said, “Could you also make me...some tea?”

He almost laughed at the shy way she asked for the small favour, as if tea was a big ask. As if he wouldn’t lay down his life for her if necessary. 

“Sure.”

“Thanks,” she leaned down to give him a proper kiss before trudging back over and dropping down onto his bedroll. He watched in amusement as Druk, now full with his own breakfast flew back behind her, curling up by her shins protectively as she slept. 

Zuko felt a strong surge of affection for the dragon. 

Of course the creature whose soul mirrored his own in some small way would lay down his life for her.

She was just that kind of person. 

* * *

Zuko took it all back. Katara was a monster. A heartless monster.

“Just. Hold. Still.” He winced as she tugged her own comb down the back of his head.

“How did it get this messy, honestly, Zuko?” she scolded as she attacked another layer, making him grit his teeth. 

“Remember when I brushed _your_ hair?” he grumbled, pointedly as another tug made him wince. 

“Yes, you were very sweet and gentle,” he could hear her smirk. “But I promised to cut your hair, not to baby you.”

He laughed indignantly, “Baby me! If I didn’t know better, I’d think we were still enemies.”

“My methods are efficient,” she countered, pulling out a small tat at the back of his head, and with it an unnecessary amount of other hairs. 

“Ow! You’re a healer!”

“Zuko, if you don’t stand still and let me work, I’m going to make you bald again.”

“I didn’t look _that_ bad with a shaved head.” He turned back when she didn’t answer. 

She just bent down primly to kiss him on the head, “You’ll _always_ be handsome to me-”

“What’s _that_ supposed to mean-”

They were interrupted as Sokka came over, examining Katara’s work. “I wonder what he’d look like with the sides shaved like mine,” Sokka teased.

Katara pulled back, humming, “Nah, I don’t think I’d like it, but he _does_ have enough hair for some decent braids and beads…”

“Yeah, maybe a headband like Toph’s or-”

“I just want a trim!” Zuko complained, “A very simple trim! For pragmatic purposes _only_.”

Sokka and Katara just snorted in unison while Druk flapped around in front of him. 

“Just give in to the makeover, bro, it’ll be easier on everyone,” Sokka crossed his arms. 

Zuko sighed, sitting back as Katara kept brushing out the knots. He trusted both these people with his life, but not as much with his hair.

* * *

A few hours later, Toph and Aang returned from a day of rigorous earthbending training if the amount of Aang’s sweat was anything to go by. 

Haru had apparently joined in, helping Toph teach Aang how to fight on two fronts at once while the other boys tagged along to watch her recreate her favorite pastime of underground fight rings.

“Zuko!” Aang said as he walked over, “Your hair!” he smiled widely as Teo and Haru peeled away to take over their dinner-making shift. 

“Katara helped trim it since Druk managed to singe a few of the ends-”

“No, I mean the-” he gestured vaguely and Katara smirked.

“Since _we_ had to wear Fire Nation clothes for so long, Sokka and I thought it was only fair for Zuko to sport a few Water Tribe accessories,” she ran a slightly possessive hand through his hair, fingering the two blue water tribe beads she’d placed on the ends of the two very short plaits she’d managed to braid towards the back of his neck where his hair was still longer. 

He’d been apprehensive at first, at least until he saw the way Katara’s eyes shone proudly when she’d begun braiding his hair, telling him a few stories about life in her village, then whenever she caught a glimpse of the carefully carved and cobalt-dyed whalebone beads that matched her own.

And he was proud too. Proud to wear her colors, proud to be in some way claimed by her.

To be worthy of her. 

She still hadn’t given him an answer about what the future would hold for them, but the way she looked at him now, smile teasing, but eyes soft and vulnerable felt like a promise all on its own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm imagining a Hiccup Haddock from HTTYD II kinda hair but with the blue beads.


	15. The Waiting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Get ready for a ~~flashback~~

Ty Lee knocked on Azula’s door for the fifth time that day, but the other girl had shut herself in after getting back on the airship and setting course for the Western Air Temple.

She hadn’t come out since. 

Ty Lee had tried getting in through the porthole, but Azula had somehow locked it shut. 

She frowned, practically sensing Azula’s dark black aura all the way from the hallway.

She understood bits and pieces, the fact that Azula thought Zuko and the Avatar had worked together to somehow bring back dragons as a secret weapon to use against them, that it had reignited the deadly competitive spirit Ozai had been breeding between his two children since birth. 

It had made Ty Lee sick to her stomach to hear Azula laugh like that, to seem so... _unhinged._

She wasn’t _broken_ by any means, but Ty Lee had always known sooner or later Azula would likely break under the pressure she was under, that she put herself under, if nothing changed.

And the few hairline fractures starting to show scared Ty Lee more than she could have predicted. 

She sighed as she knocked one more time before sliding down to the hallway floor, back to the door. 

“I’m not going anywhere!” she called out so Azula could hear her from inside. “I’ll be here whenever you’re ready to see me.”

She pulled up her legs making herself comfortable. 

_Might as well_ , she thought. She was only here for Azula, and nobody else would make a fun sparring partner. She had nothing else to do on this ship, no one else here she cared for. 

She'd been waiting on Azula for years now...What was one more night?

* * *

Azula heard the rapping on her cabin door and turned over in her bed, fuming silently as that girl tried to give her comfort she obviously didn’t _want_ or _need._

She had half a mind to go out there and set Ty Lee’s braid on fire, but she didn’t feel like moving from where she laid. 

And, truthfully, Ty Lee was the only person she ever felt bad about hurting. Most of the time when she did it was out of carelessness or an accident.

Afterall, Ty Lee was the only person she’d ever really apologized to, and she still didn’t know what that meant. 

Slowly, she turned over and closed her eyes, remembering the night they’d gone to that house party on Ember Island...

_“Oh, I'm glad you're here!” Azula turned her head where she was observing the party guests at a distance, leaning against a post as Ty Lee bounded over towards her, eyes bright, “Those boys won't leave me alone. I guess they all just like me too much,” she chirped._

_Azula glanced at all the boys leering at Ty Lee (her Ty Lee!) and scowled._

_But Ty Lee just stood there, pretending she couldn’t feel their crude stares on her....hips...and waist...and long shiny hair...and bright grey eyes….and...ample chest._

_Azula coughed, hiding her blush and couching her jealousy in cruelty, “Come on, Ty Lee. You can't be this ignorant,” she complained._

_Ty Lee_ _frowned, “What are you talking about?”_

_She cocked her head to the side, looking oddly adorable, and Azula knew there was no way she didn’t realize the effect she had on people...on boys when she did things like that._

_Azula glared at the drooling, pathetic excuses for men in the corner, “Those boys only like you because you make it so easy for them. You're not a challenge. You're a tease-” Azula swallowed, having let too much of her own bitterness creep up and trying again for callousness, “It's not like they actually care who you are anyways.”_

_Azula felt her stomach plummet as Ty Lee started crying, big fat tears leaking out of her pretty grey eyes._

_Worst of all, there was a flash of genuine hurt in them._

_Sure, Azula could be a bit...blunt with Ty Lee, but usually she didn’t take it like this._

_As Ty Lee let out a crying hiccup, Azula saw a few party goers give them both a strange look and wide berth, and she glared at them, feeling an unfamiliar mix of shame and protectiveness surge through her._

_Azula tried to soften her voice as she placed a hand on Ty Lee’s shoulder, “Okay, okay, calm down. I didn't mean what I said.”_

_Ty Lee sniffled, and Azula searched for what to say to her to make her feel better. An….apology?_

_Azula hadn’t ever really given one of those before. Sure, mother had forced her to “apologize” to Zuko all the time for any little mishap, but she’d never meant it before._

_Bracing herself, she squeezed her friend’s shoulder gently, “Look, maybe I just said it because I was a little…” she turned her head left and right to make sure no one was listening in, “-jealous,” she finished, whispering._

_Ty Lee raised her head at that, rubbing her eyes, “What? You're jealous of me? But you're the most beautiful, smartest, perfect girl in the world!”_

_Azula's whole heart stuttered in her chest at those words, and she fought down the blush threatening to erupt across her cheeks._

_She tilted her head away to hide the evidence of her pleasure at Ty Lee’s words._

_“Well, you're right about all those things,” self aggrandizing was always a safe place for her to go when feeling vulnerable, “But, for some reason, when I meet boys, they act as if I'm going to do something horrible to them.”_

_She scrunched her nose. Boys were so stupid, and not in a cute way like Ty Lee sometimes acted._

_Take Zuko, for instance. He was a boy and he was stupid._

_All the sons of nobles she’d ever met had been stupid, and she’d been offended when Ursa had giggled with their mothers about the potential of them “getting to know each other” better._

_She was distracted by Ty Lee’s giggle. “But you probably would do something horrible to them.” She smiled at Azula, still giggling, and Azula’s heart stuttered again._

_Mother had never appreciated the little pranks she’d played on those moronic nobles’ sons. She’d always pinched her by the ear and gave her a long and boring scolding._

_But Ty Lee understood._

_“I'm sure they're just intimidated by you,” she continued, but stopped as Azula scowled._

_Ty Lee sighed, looking down at her feet, “Okay, look, if you want a boy to like you, just look at him and smile a lot and laugh at everything he says even if it's not funny, which it probably won’t be.”_

_Azula frowned, Is that what Ty Lee does? Did that make her happy?_

_Azula herself looked around at all the boys at the party. She didn’t particularly like any of them, but she did sort of want them to like her for some reason._

_Azula pouted, “Well, that sounds really shallow and stupid.”_

_But one day, Azula would be expected to marry one of these shallow, blubbering morons, so she might as well get used to dealing with them._

_Maybe with Ty Lee, practicing could be fun._

_“Ok, Let's try it.”_

_“Okay,” Ty Lee said, perking up a bit more, before furrowing her brow and doing her best manly imitation in a faux deep voice, “Hey there, sweet sugar cakes. How you liking this party?”_

_She placed her hand on the post by Azula’s head._

_Azula was so caught off guard by Ty Lee’s terrible impersonation, she actually started laughing._

_She couldn’t remember the last time she’d actually laughed out loud, and once she stopped she couldn’t stop, and she ended up wheezing slightly, hand on her bared stomach._

_Once she let up, she met Ty Lee’s eyes. Her friend was looking at her with an odd expression on her face._

_“See? Just like that..” Ty Lee said, a bit breathless from laughing herself before her face became more serious._

_“You have a beautiful laugh, Azula. Any boy heard it would be happy to have you,” she said, still looking oddly solemn before she peeled away, re-entering her fray of suitors._

_Azula just watched her go, a strange, confusing mixture of emotions bubbling up in her chest._

_Frowning, she went to the refreshment table to grab a drink. Or two._

_///////////////////////_

_Azula downed her third (or fourth?) glass of punch and scanned the crowd, looking for Ty Lee. She perked up, setting her empty cup down as she saw the familiar long brown braid swinging._

_She watched her slip away from her crowd of fans and disappear onto the balcony, so Azula followed, shutting the door behind her._

_Ty Lee turned, but relaxed when she saw who it was._

_“Oh, it’s just you.” She leaned back against the rail, back arched and legs crossed as she looked out across the dark waves._

_Azula looked at the soft curve of her slender neck, almost glowing in the moonlight, watched the way her long braid fell between her shoulder blades, falling all the way down to her exposed lower back, the little dip-_

_Before she could think about it, she let her hand fall into the little dip, palm splaying across the soft pale skin._

_Ty Lee shivered at her touch, turning to face Azula, brows furrowed in confusion, but she didn’t object, so Azula kept her hand where it was, softly tracing a circle against Ty Lee’s back._

_“What?-”_

_Azula cut her off, “When I said I was jealous earlier…” she took a deep breath, fear tearing at her throat, even with the edges of her mind softened by the alcohol and its uninhibiting effect, “I wasn’t jealous of you….I was jealous of them.”_

_Ty Lee’s eyes widened as she made a cute little surprised “Oh” face, pursing her lips, and before she could think it through, Azula leaned forward, head tilting to press her lips to Ty Lee’s._

_Azula had never kissed anyone before, but as Ty Lee softened, tilting her own head, it felt natural to wrap her arms around the other girl’s waist, pulling her closer._

_Eventually, they pulled apart slowly, and Azula could feel the gentle pant of Ty Lee’s breaths across her cheek._

_Ty Lee looked up at her, face conflicted, “Azula-”_

_For a terrible, terrifying moment, Azula was certain she was about to be rejected. That Ty Lee was about to let her down easy, tell her she didn’t feel that way-_

_So Azula beat her to it._

_She pulled back quickly, hardening her features._

_“That meant nothing.”_

_Without waiting for the other girl’s response, she spun on her heel and stalked back into the party._

Azula stood up from the bed, the image of Ty Lee's hurt and betrayed face flashing through her mind. She staggered towards her desk, ripping open drawers until she found what she was looking for.

She held up the scissors, clutching at the strands that fell before her face and began cutting, feeling relief as chunks of dark, silky, perfect hair decorated the floor. 

* * *

Ty Lee was _not_ stupid. 

There might be times where she leaned into her “bimbo” persona, but that was _because_ she was smart. 

In a lot of ways, she wore as much armor as both of her best friends; Mai had her cloak of apathy, and Azula smothered her own feelings with blind ambition, but she, well, she was a people-pleaser.

She made herself agreeable, so she did not make enemies. So she could survive. 

But in doing so, sometimes it was hard to make friends. To meet people who could see past her soft, happy-go-lucky exterior. 

She wasn’t a _cruel_ person by any means, but she sometimes mused that she and Azula had more in common than most people would ever suspect. There was a reason they’d always been drawn to each other. 

There was a reason she’d survived so long as Azula’s closest companion and confidante. 

It wasn’t a role many would be able to fill, but Ty Lee had always been brave enough to try. Ty Lee had always craved excitement, a hint of danger. She’d run away to join the circus and perform dangerous stunts for Agni’s sake. 

She knew how others saw Azula: _A non-feeling, power hungry dictator. As cruel as her father. A sadistic perfectionist. Ruthless._

And there was plenty of truth in those claims, Ty Lee wouldn’t dispute it. Azula’s mean streak was a mile wide. She always put her own self-interest first. She thought the ends always justified the means. 

And still, in spite of it all, Ty Lee loved her. Had always loved her. Would continue to love her in some way, shape, or form until the day she died. 

She _knew_ loving Azula was like playing with fire, and she did it anyways. 

Because Ty Lee was _not_ stupid, but she _was_ brave...and sometimes, a little too reckless for her own good.

So she stood to knock on the door one more time, and as she did, it finally pulled opened to reveal an unusually tired looking Azula.

Ty Lee let out a relieved sigh at the sight of Azula even as she took in her rumpled robe and tangled messy hair. 

Azula looked close to tears as she whispered, “My _hair…_ ” and Ty Lee looked up to see where Azula must’ve tried to cut her own bangs, making them choppy and uneven. 

She pushed Azula back, closing the door behind them for more privacy. “It’s _ruined_ ,” Azula wailed once the door closed, kicking at her vanity stool. Ty Lee could also see the shattered remains of a hand mirror by Azula’s side table. 

A blue flame erupted in Azula’s palm, and she growled in frustration before sending it hurling towards the end of her bedspread. 

Acting quickly, Ty Lee grabbed a nearby vase left out by some poor, well-intentioned servant and dumped out the water with the flowers to smother the flames before they could spread across the whole bed. Azula didn’t even notice with her renewed pacing. 

_At least she’s not laughing anymore_ , Ty Lee thought, though the manic lashing out and poorly advised haircut wasn’t great either. 

"It's not _perfect_ anymore!" She yelled, rounding on Ty Lee like she thought it was her fault. 

"What isn't?"

" _Me_! My hair, my plans, my track record...you, Mai, Zuko.... _us_." She shook her head, uneven bangs bouncing erratically as she started pacing again, hands sparking. "I'm not _ahead_...I'm not _winning_!"

Ty Lee shook her head sadly, "Azula, what is there to win?"

"The War, obviously!" 

"The Avatar might still be alive, but you helped squelch the last of the resistance on the day of the eclipse...You took down Ba Sing Se, the last holdout of the Earth Kingdom, the _impenetrable_ city!...You've singlehandedly brought a century-old war to a close with a few simple strokes of strategic brilliance! You've crippled your enemies!" Ty Lee shook her head, not understanding how Azula could overlook her own accomplishments now. 

"But the Avatar is _out there_ , and _Zuko_ with his _lightning_ and _dragons,_ and Father would never forgive me for letting Zuko or the Avatar slip away _again_ and Mai hates me, I can _see_ it in her eyes, just like _Mother_ used to look at me like I'm a _monster_ , and I can't trust the Dai Li, I'd be an _idiot_ to, and none of these sniveling military fools are competent enough to rely on, and the only one I can trust is _you_ , _and I don't know what you want from me!"_ Azula breathed heavily, stalking towards her. 

Ty Lee took a shuddering breath. "I just want you, Azula."

Azula pulled at her uneven bangs a bit, "What does that _mean_? _Tell me what you want from me!_ " she cried, stomping petulantly. 

Ty Lee let out a single, sad laugh, "I don't want anything _from_ you, Azula....I just want _you_ , I want to _be_ with you, to be your friend, your companion..." she closed her eyes, "I just want you to let me love you."

"Nobody _loves_ me," Azula sneered, voice deadly sharp. "They _fear_ me, as they should, but they don't _love_ me."

" _I'm_ not afraid of you," Ty Lee said firmly, even as Azula raised her hands, now glowing icy blue with flames. 

_"_ Do you forget who I am, Ty Lee!? _I could kill you right now!"_ Azula said, voice shaking.

Ty Lee braced herself, breathing in deeply before taking a step towards Azula. She could feel the heat of her blue flame heating up the cabin immensely, but she stepped forward anyways, hands out reaching towards Azula's glowing fists. 

_"But you won't,"_ she whispered, letting her hands rest in the air between them like an offering. Azula stared at them uncertainly. 

Eventually, the flames grew smaller and smaller until they flickered out, and Ty Lee took Azula's warm hands in her own.

Slowly, very slowly she raised her hands to her lips like she'd done back in Azula's dressing room just a week before.

Azula watched uncertainly as Ty Lee pulled back, letting her hands drop and cupping her face, swiping back her messy bangs and running her thumbs along Azula's quivering jaw.

Her face was uncertain, though she did nothing to stop Ty Lee as she stood a bit on her tip toes placing her lips to Azula. 

She pulled back softly, and looked into the familiar amber eyes.

The Princess's eyes were wide, pupils dilated, and Ty Lee leaned back in, this time tilting her head a bit for a better angle, hands still cradling Azula's jaw with all the tenderness she'd use to hold a bird with a broken wing. 

Slowly, Azula began to respond, tilting her head and wrapping her arms around Ty Lee's back, fingers teasing the spot that always made her shiver.

She began pushing gently until Azula's knees hit the back of her bed, and Ty Lee pulled away long enough to tell her, "Sit."

Azula obeyed, sitting, staring up at Ty Lee with something painfully vulnerable in her gaze as Ty Lee stood between the vee of her legs, leaning down to kiss her. 

She stopped for a moment, examining Azula's hair. "You still look beautiful," she said because it was true.

Azula would always be beautiful to her. 

"But not perfect-" Azula said, finally speaking, voice gone hoarse from her yelling. 

Ty Lee nodded, "No...but still beautiful."

Azula closed her eyes as Ty Lee leaned down and began peppering soft kisses to the underside of her jaw, moving up to her cheeks, pressing two gentle kisses to her eyelids before turning her attention farther down and pulling at the ties of Azula's silk robe. 

Azula's breathy voice interrupted her, "I...I don't know how to do this," she said, eyes wide and frightened.

Ty Lee knew she was not talking about the kisses or the touches, but the look in Ty Lee's eyes. The gentleness in her movements.

"I can show you how...if you let me," Ty Lee said, pulling back. Letting the offer settle between them. 

_Let me love you. Let me love you. Let me love you._

Azula let out a slow shuddering breath, nodding, _"Please."_

_Ty Lee was done waiting._

She pushed Azula back against the mattress, all the love she wasn't allowed to speak yet lingering in the wake of her hands and lips.

Azula was malleable and receptive to her touch, and for the first time Ty Lee knew the Princess was really _listening_ to her.

To the words sitting in the space between their bodies:

_I love you. I know you don't know how to love me back yet. But I can show you._


	16. The Balloon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello friends, it's been 50 Years since my last update because things have been crazy, I'm heading back to my university in the middle of a pandemic bc I have a deathwish apparently and everything is a nightmare right now, but hey, have some short filler to tide you over until I find some real, solid freetime to write.

“Check this out,” Zuko said, pointing towards the small pile of sticks he’d placed under his chipped old tea kettle and turning to Druk, “Druk, _Light_.”

The dragon turned towards the kindling, pulling his head back before letting out a targeted burst of flame, setting it alight, helping bring the water to a quick boil.

Zuko turned to Sokka who spoke up first, “Well, it’d be cooler if we hadn’t seen you do it a thousand times, but congratulations I _guess_.”

Zuko scowled, so Aang swooped in, “I think it’s great, Zuko!”

“Thank you, _Aang_ ,” Zuko said, still feeling sour. It had taken him a long time to find a command simple enough for Druk to execute consistently. 

Sokka shook his head at Aang, “Hey, _Aang_ , don’t forget you’re just his second-favorite student-”

“Hey, _behave_ ,” Katara warned Sokka who moodily poked at the rice he was ruining. 

It seemed in the wake of Zuko and Aang’s return, Sokka’s sour mood had returned as he once again lapsed into a familiar spiral of shame and lashing out. 

Zuko sighed and filled up the empty tea cups Toph had made for them to use, setting them all up on a tray before passing them out. 

After everyone had drunk their tea and gotten a bowl of rice and vegetables for dinner, Sokka stood up. 

“Hey, Zuko, come help me grab a bit more firewood.”

Zuko eyed the cooking fire suspiciously. The food was cooked, and it looked fine to him, but something in Sokka’s gaze made him stand. 

“Uh...sure.”

He set down the empty tea tray and followed Sokka as they headed towards the outskirts of the woods above the temple.

“So, what's up?” he asked once they were reasonably far away. 

“Where does the Fire Nation keep prisoners of war?” Sokka said bluntly, turning to him. 

Zuko stopped immediately, “Sokka, I can’t-”

“ _Yes_ , you _can_ , Zuko, please...I have to know,” Sokka said, “It’s been driving me crazy, and I thought I could let it go, but I can’t.”

Zuko frowned, noting the bags under Sokka’s eye and wondering how much sleep he’d been getting since they arrived. 

He sighed, “It’ll just make it worse to know,” he said as a final plea, but Sokka gave him that look, and he caved. “ _Fine_ , my guess is, they were taken to the Boiling Rock.”

Sokka frowned, “What is that?”

“The highest security prison in the Fire Nation. It's on an island in the middle of a boiling lake. It's inescapable. It’s the place those chi-blocking cuffs and the cooler method were invented.”

Sokka looked a bit faint, “You mean the things that almost _killed_ you?” Zuko was reminded of how Sokka had been the one to find him, to drag his unconscious body off the Fire Nation ship. 

He nodded, “But only because I’m a firebender. The troops were all waterbenders, earthbenders, or non benders, that wouldn’t affect them.”

Sokka shook his head, looking horrified, “Somehow, that doesn’t make me feel a whole lot better.”

He turned on his heel and began walking back towards the temple. 

“What about the firewood?” Zuko asked, jogging to catch up, but Sokka ignored his question, responding with his own. 

“So, where is this place?”

Zuko narrowed his eyes, “Why would I tell you? Just so you could plan some harebrained rescue mission and get yourself killed. I’m sure your Dad would _love_ me for that.”

Sokka rolled his eyes, “Boy, you're so paranoid.” When Zuko still didn’t talk, he sighed and tried again, “Zuko, _please_...You told me you understood, right?” Zuko nodded, “So you understand that I will not be able to rest until I fix this.”

Zuko paused, looking into his friend’s beseeching blue eyes and saw the desperation as well as the unrelenting decision he’d already made. 

Zuko shook his head, caving again, hating how soft he’d become for both of the Water Tribe siblings, “It's in the middle of a volcano between here and the Fire Nation. We actually flew right past it on our way here.”

Sokka nodded, wheels obviously turning in his brain. 

“So...what now?” Zuko asked. 

He was surprised as Sokka patted his arm, stretching his arms in a yawn. “Oh, _nothing_...You know just knowing makes me feel better.”

“Yeah, I'm sure it does,” Zuko muttered sarcastically as he followed Sokka the rest of the way back to camp. 

Zuko prepared himself for a sleepless night on babysitting another suicidal maniac duty. 

* * *

Sokka slowly peeled back the top of his bedroll, tiptoeing to the bag he’d discreetly packed after dinner when Zuko was distracted with his little dragon. 

He cast a glance towards his sister’s bedroll, which was as usual now, obnoxiously and obscenely close to Zuko’s. He saw his sister’s bedhead and a lump that must be Zuko on her other side. Druk was missing, but Sokka had no idea what dragons did in their freetime, so he assumed he might be hunting or something.

He cursed as he almost tripped over Momo, but eventually he made it to the big, furry bison. 

“Shhh,” he patted Appa’s head, “This is a secret mission, okay?” Thankfully, Appa didn’t growl in return, waking the others.

Appa closed his eyes, seemingly drifting back to sleep as Sokka climbed on top of him. But as he pulled himself up and hooked a leg over the edge of the saddle he saw Zuko sitting, arms crossed, Druk wrapped around his neck, both of their gold eyes watching him.

“ _Not up to anything, huh?_ ”

“Gah!” Sokka stumbled pack, slipping off Appa, supplies spilling from his cloth bag. He stood, brushing himself off angrily, realizing he’d been duped.

“You look like a supervillain just sitting here in the dark with your stupid dragon, you know.”

Zuko and Druk continued to stare, unimpressed, “Seriously, did you put a pillow in your sleeping bag to fake me out, you weirdo?”

Judgemental silence. 

Sokka sighed exasperation, putting his hands up, “ _Fine_ , you caught me. I'm gonna go rescue my Dad. Are you happy now?”

“About that? Of course not, Sokka.” 

Sokka began picking up the fallen items, “Look, I have to do this. The invasion plan was my idea, it was my decision to stay when things were going wrong. It's my mistake, and it's my job to fix it. I have to regain my honor.” he shook his head, “You can't stop me, Zuko.”

He knew Zuko could probably take him in a fight, but he wouldn’t admit that now. 

“Okay, but I _can_ help you.”

Sokka paused, not expecting that, “What?”

His eyes adjusted to see Zuko’s frown, “I’m not happy about it, but I won’t let you die just because you’re an _idiot_ ,” he looked at Sokka and his face softened a bit, “I told you I understood, and I do.”

Sokka looked at him suspiciously, “You won’t tell the others?....Not even my sister?”

Zuko pursed his lips but shook his head. 

_Huh_ , Sokka shrugged to himself. He _could_ use the extra help after all. He didn’t even know where exactly this place was aside from the general direction. 

“Fine, I’ll allow you to come,” Sokka said magnanimously. 

“Gee, thanks,” Zuko snarked, “How are you even going to get there?”

Sokka gestured towards Appa, but Zuko shook his head, “On _Appa_? Last time I checked, prisons don't have bison daycares.”

Sokka deflated a bit realizing he was right. “So..what, then? Just give up?” he scowled. He stepped back as Zuko, dragon in two gracefully slid down to the ground to stand beside him. 

“Nope,” Zuko began walking purposely towards an abandoned part of the temple, and Sokka rushed to follow, confused. 

“Do you know something I don’t?”

“Obviously I know a _lot_ of things-”

“Oh, shut up, and just tell me what-”

He paused as Zuko finally stopped after crawling over a large pile of stony rubble, looking down over the edge of what used to be a balcony towards the cliff face below.

“What in Tui and La’s name are you-” he stopped as he finally caught sight of what Zuko was looking at. 

There, just a few feet below, partially lodged into the rough rock face was a small war balloon with a Fire Nation insignia on its droopy red balloon cloth. 

“How did you find this!” Sokka cried in surprise. 

Zuko shrugged, “Teo and the others showed me. They wanted to know if it still worked.”

“And... _does_ it?” Sokka asked, trying to smother the hope rising in his chest to no avail.

“We’re gonna find out,” Zuko similed winningly.

“You can’t be serious?” Sokka gaped looking down at the wreckage. 

“I’m always serious.”

* * *

Katara rolled over to snuggle up to Zuko, but her arms came up empty. Confused, she opened her eyes to see a pillow stuffed under his blanket. "What the-" she sat up to see Druk staring at her imploringly, sitting by her head.

"Whatcha got there?" she muttered groggily as the little dragon nudged a piece of paper towards her. 

Ignoring her morning breath and confusion, she straightened up and unfolded the piece of paper that said "To Katara" on the outside. 

It said:

**_Dear Katara,_ **

**_Sokka and I are on a last minute mission to save your Dad from Fire Nation prison._ **

**_Don't worry, we'll try really extra hard not to get killed!!_ **

**_I know what I'm doing, mostly._ **

**_You're the best!_ **

**_Love,_ **

**_Zuko :)_ **

**_P.S. Can you look after Druk for me while I'm gone? I told him I was leaving him behind to take care of you, so don't tell him I said that. _ **

Katara re-folded the piece of paper slowly and turned towards the dragon's wide gold eyes. 

Very calmly, she told him, "I am going to _murder_ your father, Druk.....breakfast?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Deleted dialogue:
> 
> "I found this conveniently located Fire Nation war balloon that's a bit beat up, but otherwise seems to be in working condition!"
> 
> "Holy Deus Ex Machina, man!"


	17. The Ride

Katara picked Druk up so he could rest in the cradle of her arms, and he huffed happily, leaning his head and upper body back to hang from the edge of her forearm. She meandered over towards the small morning campfire where Toph, Aang, and Haru were already gathered. Teo and The Duke continued to snore a few yards away. 

"Bad news, guys, Sokka and Zuko are-"

"Gone, yeah." Aang slid a bowl of plain rice over to her. It wasn't much to look at, but she was appreciative even Aang had started carrying his weight more with chores. 

"Wait, how do _you_ know?" Katara asked, frowning as she held a handful up to Druk who seemed uninterested in rice without meat to accompany it. 

"I got a note from Momo," she quirked her eyebrow and Aang blushed, "Well, it was from _Zuko_ , but Momo delivered it to me earlier this morning."

Katara wanted to scowl, but couldn't help but snort. Of course her ridiculous boyfriend entrusted all his important messages to his beloved animal companions. 

"Oh yeah, what did he say to _you_?" If he'd been less vague with _Aang_ than with _her_...

"Just said they were 'on an important trip' whatever that means," Aang shrugged and Katara relaxed a bit...At least Zuko had been _honest_ with her, even if he was a complete and utter moron.

Aang perked back up, "Oh, and Zuko gave me a list of exercises to work on! I think he told Momo to wake me up at sunrise for my daily meditation because he kept poking at me until I got up like Zuko does!"

Katara sighed debating whether to tell the others about the true purpose of Sokka and Zuko's trip. One one hand, she didn't want to worry them, but they had a right to know she supposed...also, Toph would be able to tell if she lied about them being on a hunting trip or something. 

Toph spoke up, forcing her to make her decision, "So where did the dummies go, anyways?"

Katara scowled, though said dummies weren't there to appreciate her wrath, "They went to _rescue_ Dad from a Fire Nation prison."

"What?!" Toph shrieked, "No fair! Without us?"

Aang also looked uncomfortable, "That sounds really dangerous, I wonder why they didn't take us as back up. We could've all gone!"

"Maybe they're trying to be more stealth," she swiveled her head around as Haru spoke, shrugging, "you know, taking less people."

She turned her scowl to him and he cowered a bit, " _Trust me,_ I doubt there was any _planning_ or _thinking ahead_ involved here." She stabbed angrily at her rice as Druk nudged her elbow with his head and she grudgingly pet him, annoyed at her former crush for defending her stupid boyfriend and brother. 

She also tried to suppress the twinge of hurt. Zuko had left her here alone again when she could've been perfectly good backup...Didn't he know how much she was going to worry? The two most important people in her life had gone on a vague, likely deadly mission, and all she could do was sit around and bend the same stale water and eat rice and play with his pet dragon?

Again, she promised herself that if Zuko survived this, she was going to kill him....slowly and painfully. 

Her appetite improved as she came up with all the various ways she would punish him when he got back, and she finished her rice, setting down the empty bowl with a clang. 

"Okay, Druk, we're going hunting." If Sokka and Zuko wanted to go play heroes just the two of them, then she'd have her own little field trip with Druk. 

Just because she had to worry and wait didn't mean she had to do it sitting around.

* * *

Zuko watched Sokka out of the corner of his eye as he continued to fan the flames of the war balloon. His friend was obviously lost in his own thoughts, probably obsessing over the farfetched mission he'd decided to take on....the one that Zuko was foolishly enabling.

For a minute, Zuko considered turning the balloon around then and there and heading back to Katara and the others, but he knew he couldn't do it, looking at the tense line of Sokka's shoulders.

Knew he couldn't steal whatever hope Sokka had left from him. Zuko wondered if this is what Uncle had felt like all those years aboard the wani, standing by as a loved one threw themselves headfirst into danger all in order to regain their _honor_. 

From where Zuko was standing now, "honor" didn't really seem to mean much of anything. 

But saving Hakoda, saving Katara and Sokka's father...well, _that_ was something. 

He grunted, trying to break the awkward silence that had ensconced them. 

"So, uh....the clouds are pretty," Zuko said, cringing at the observation before it even finished leaving his mouth. 

He snuck a glance at Sokka whose eyes were wide, mouth twitching. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," Zuko soldiered on, "They're really...white...and _fluffy_."

" _Wow_ , Zuko, I didn't know your royal tutors taught you the art of _poetry-_ "

"Oh, shut up-" 

"No, really," Sokka began laughing breathily, "Is that the _superior art and culture_ the Fire Nation wanted to spread to the rest of the world?" 

Zuko frowned, his own begrudging smile slipping away. "Yeah," he sighed. "I guess so." He looked out across the sky thinking about the hubris that had lead his country to where it was today. He thought about Azula and Mai and Ty Lee...His mother, who'd loved poetry and plays and art. 

There was good in the Fire Nation, he knew it...He just didn't know whether he was the person who could redeem it like everyone kept insinuating he was. 

He remembered his hushed midnight conversation with Katara. His whispered confession that he didn't want to take the throne. Katara's voice, soft but firm in the dark. 

_"I think the Fire Nation needs a clean slate...It needs **you**.”_

But Zuko wasn't a clean slate, not really. He had just as much baggage as anyone, yet they still looked at him sometimes like he was some kind of saving grace. 

He realized, perhaps for the first time, exactly why Aang had fled his Avatar duties in the first place. 

_It was too much for a child. It wasn't fair. None of them should be fighting this war-_

"Watch it, man." Sokka's voice was firm but gentle as Zuko came back to himself, noticing the way the coals had gotten too hot, sparks landing dangerously close to the cloth of the balloon. 

"Sorry," he mumbled, pulling his hand back. He looked down to where Sokka lounged against the railing, arms wide. 

"Why are you brooding?" Sokka asked, finally. 

Zuko shook his head, "I could ask you the same thing."

Sokka tilted his head in acknowledgement, but stayed silent until Zuko spoke back up. "Fine, I'm just thinking about...if... _once_ we defeat him...what's going to happen? To me, to you? To _any_ of us?"

Sokka frowned, mulling over Zuko's words. "I don't know, honestly...I don't have a plan after defeating Ozai, stopping the war, and saving the world...It's a pretty short to-do list, all things considered."

Zuko ignored the attempt at levity, "But you always have a plan, Sokka! I just...I need _someone_ to know what they're going to do, because I have no clue..."

Sokka shook his head darkly, "See where my last grand plan got us?" Zuko looked down at his feet awkwardly as Sokka went on, "For so long, I thought if I just prepared enough, made enough machines to give us an edge, was smart enough, I could save us, but...I _can't_. My plans have only gotten us so far, and now it's time to try something different...to...let go a bit, be a bit more spontaneous."

"That's a terrible idea, Sokka."

"It got you this far."

"In spite of all the trouble it got me into!" Zuko spluttered, tempted to point out his scar, but Sokka stared at him calculatingly. 

"You'll be a good Fire Lord."

Zuko stilled, "I didn't say-"

"You didn't have to, I know what goes on in that angsty little head of yours," Zuko scowled as Sokka crossed his arms, "Besides, it's not like you'll have to do it alone."

"But...you'll go home eventually, right? Back to the South Pole.." Zuko shifted on his feet, hating how clingy he sounded. 

Sokka nodded softly, "Probably," and Zuko sucked in a sharp breath, feeling a stab to his gut that hurt more than most burns-

"At some point I'll go back to help rebuild my village...I want to help protect and take care of my home and family," Sokka went on while Zuko ignored the icy feeling in his chest-

"But you're also my family, Zuko."

Zuko looked over at the boy with the wolftail and dark complexion so unlike his own. His opposite and former enemy in every way. Ocean blue eyes stared back at him solemnly, "We won't abandon you when it's over, Zuko...We're not going anywhere...At least, I'm not."

Zuko coughed to cover the scarlet flush he knew must be creeping up the back of his neck. "Um...thanks, I...feel the same way."

"That's good, buddy."

Sokka stood slowly, stretching out his long limbs, nudging Zuko's arm in a friendly manner as he came to stand near him at the railing. 

"Now tell me again what you know about the layout of the island..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for no "That's rough, buddy." ik at least one of you is disappointed, but I'm tired and not in a funny mood. Life has been "rough" lately, so I'm tryna manifest some "good" instead.


	18. The Landing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (personal rant, feel free to ignore):  
> thanks to everyone who left me well wishes on the last chapter :) you guys are really nice, and it helps alleviate guilt I've felt over not updating like I did this summer...but ik I have to be easier on myself bc I'm now juggling a full college course load, internship, editing position, etc. on top of a shitty 2 weeks with a car accident, family death, and an awful period. 
> 
> But that being said, I'm really really enjoying my internship at a literary magazine; I'm genuinely considering going into the editing and publishing field now. In case you didn't notice, I obviously enjoy writing, and the possibility of turning that hobby into a real writing career or career in a related field is beyond exciting. 
> 
> And I do believe ao3 has made me better at just turning out content and getting over the hurdle of perfectionism; cause you can't revise and edit and improve something that doesn't exist.
> 
> So yeah, that's my life update. 
> 
> I've also done some atla fanart recently, some of which corresponds to this fic, which you can find on my tumblr:  
> https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/momonzuko/search/my+art

Sokka opened his bleary eyes as Zuko’s rasp drew him from his nap. 

“There it is!” Zuko whispered, pointing at the dark and jagged edges of a volcano growing larger as they approached, “There's plenty of steam to keep us covered. As long as we're quiet, we should be able to navigate through it without being caught.”

Sokka nodded as Zuko fanned the coals, letting off even more steam, but through it, Sokka could see the surface of a lake behind the volcano’s outer shell and a massive island in the middle. 

As they moved forward, the steam from the air balloon mixed with the volcano's steam, and Sokka worried for a moment about getting lost until he was distracted by the more pressing matter of the balloon lurching, losing altitude too quickly and dipping, causing Zuko to stumble back into Sokka. 

He held up a hand to steady his friend who turned around tensely, frantically blasting fire into the tank, “We're going down! The balloon's not working anymore!” 

Desperately, he watched as the firebender shot a wave of heat towards the top of the balloon itself, but Sokka shook his head. 

He knew it wouldn’t do them any good now. 

“The air outside is just as hot as the air inside so we can't fly!”  _ I should’ve thought about that _ , Sokka admonished himself. 

This time when the balloon lurched it was Sokka who fell into Zuko who helped right him quickly as they both grabbed the rails for balance, “So what are we supposed to do?” Zuko’s good eye widened. 

Sokka felt the familiar tinge of shame as one of his loved ones looked at him for an answer...just like back in the Caldera…

“I don't know!” he cried, wanting to cry tears of frustration, “Crash-landing?”

Before Zuko could respond, the balloon skid across the top of the lake’s surface, splashing Sokka's hand.

He bit down hard on his lip to avoid screaming and giving them away. It  _ burned _ , badly. 

With a great crash, the balloon hit the base of the rock, ejecting them both from inside. “Gaaaah!” Sokka cried eloquently as his elbows and knees banged across the stony beach. 

_ That’s gonna leave a bruise or two _ , he thought with a groan, silently hoping Zuko had gotten the better end of the stick.

He also hoped Katara wasn’t so mad she’d refuse to heal them both when they got back. 

He took the offered hand as Zuko helped him to his feet, frowning at the wreckage behind them.

“How are we gonna get off the island if the balloon won't work?”

“We'll figure something out!” Sokka said with more optimism than he felt, still feeling mor eor less responsible for the disastrous start their mission has already gotten off on, “ I suspected it might be a one-way ticket,” he said, though he hadn’t even really thought that far at all. 

“You knew this would happen and you wanted to come anyway?” Zuko looked unsure, and Sokka tried to sound more confident. 

“My dad might be here! I had to come and see!”

Zuko shook his head, “Uncle always said I never thought things through. But this ... this is just crazy!”

“Hey, I told you I was winging it!”

“Well, yeah, but I still thought you might...have some idea of how to do this.”

Sokka shrugged, kicking the torn up remains of the sail into the steaming water. 

“ _ Now _ what are you doing?” Zuko watched. 

“It doesn't work anyway, and we don't want anyone to find it.”

“Well,” said Zuko with a large, put-on sigh, looking up at the looming prison walls “There's no turning back now.”

“That’s the spirit, buddy.”

Sokka patted Zuko on the bag and trudged forward, beginning their climb up the steep incline. 

_ I hope I know what I’m doing,  _ he thought to himself, sending up a quick prayer to Yue to give him the strength to fix his mistakes and protect his friend. 

He wouldn’t fail his family again. 

* * *

“Get up.”

Hakoda inclined his head to see a now familiar looking Fire Nation guard at the door to his cell. He grunted, but did as the man said, knowing when to pick his battles. 

He wouldn’t abandon his children just because of pride or temper. Not now.

The man grabbed his arm roughly, dragging him forward in spite of being at least a head shorter than Hakoda.

Hakoda resisted the urge to fight back, noting the two much burlier guards lumbering right behind them. 

He also resisted the urge to ask where they were going. They’d tell him or they wouldn’t, and asking wouldn’t do more than incentivize them to leave him in the dark. So he stayed silent as they meandered up several flights of stairs and through several dingy staircases. 

They stepped out into the sunlight, which was blinding after so long in the Caldera jail cell. 

He couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief as the fresh air filled his lungs and the sun lit the top of his head. He hadn’t realized just how much he’d missed the sun in his confinement. He couldn’t imagine what it must do to imprisoned firebenders to be cut off from their element like that. 

That thought made him think of Prince Zuko who he knew had made it out safely at least. Hakoda didn’t want to know what the penalty for treason would be, but he knew it wouldn’t be a swift or painless execution. 

He was still wary of the Prince and his relationship with Katara which seemed to have become too intense and codependent far too quickly for his taste. 

Though Hakoda had learned his lesson about infantilizing Katara. He’d have to let her use her own judgement and trust in her. 

Though it wouldn’t stop him from worrying. 

And he could admit a part of him also worried for the boy as well. Afterall, Zuko had saved Hakoda twice in the invasion attempt, and though he hadn’t witnessed it, he’d saved Katara from his own sister all that time ago. 

And then again when he used himself as bait to distract the Fire Nation Navy from finding the Avatar. 

He sighed. 

Things had been easier when the lines hadn’t been blurred. When enemies didn’t become friends and didn’t have names and faces and stories. 

_ When daughters didn’t fall in love with the heirs of corrupt and brutal dynasties and sons didn’t ruffle dangerous firebenders’ hair and poke fun at them.  _

Before he knew it, the entourage had arrived at some kind of port where a small, but familiar metal steam ship waited. He saw several other prisoners being led along in chains up the gangplank. 

He strained his neck but couldn’t see any of his men or the rest of the invasion force. 

As he’d predicted, the shorter guard couldn’t help but throw him a taunt as he saw the flash of worry on Hakoda’s face. 

“Don’t worry, savage, the other mutts are fine, but you’ve been deemed special enough to warrant the attention of the warden at Boiling Rock.”

Hakoda didn’t react to the stale insults and did not recognize the name of the place. 

But if the man’s sneer was anything to go by, he was beyond grateful none of his people would be accompanying him there. 

* * *

Zuko felt his Blue Spirit instincts kick in as he took the lead, identifying an open window he and Sokka could sneak in through. 

Sokka was perhaps less graceful in his movements, but they both made it through the gap in the rusted bars that had warped just enough for them to fit through.

Sokka huffed as he landed in a pile on the floor, but they were both silent and let out twin breaths of relief when no alarms sounded and no footfalls echoed down the hall. 

“We should find some disguises,” Sokka whispered in Zuko’s right ear, which Zuko was grateful for given his compromised hearing. 

“You thinking about uniforms?” he asked and Sokka nodded. Just like they’d done on the stolen Fire Nation ship back at Chameleon Bay. 

Zuko nodded in consent. “Alright, then, let’s go this way,” he led the way as they crept forward heading towards what looked most like a utility closet. 

“Bingo,” Sokka grinned as they opened it up carefully, trying to avoid creaking, and found several dusty plates of armor, helmets, boots, and familiar maroon tunics.

_ Thank you _ , Zuko thought, sending his gratitude up to Agni. 

_ Maybe we can do this after all.  _

* * *

“So we just need to lay low and find my dad as soon as possible,” Sokka said, peering anxiously around to make sure they were still alone in the corridor. 

Suddenly, a series of guards rushed by, and Sokka’s heart fluttered as one paused, looking at them. 

But the man didn’t show any signs of suspicion and called out, “Guards! There's a scuffle in the yard. Come on.”

Begrudgingly, both boys followed the crowd out to the prison yard where a mass of prisoners in faded red jumpsuits gathered in a circle as a stream of guards pooled towards the inside, Sokka and Zuko included. 

There, they saw a broad shouldered man facing off with one of the guards. 

The man called out, “I didn't do anything! I'm going back to my cell,” the man turned to walk away when the guard swung a whip of fire towards him, barely missing the man as he jumped back, glowering. 

“Stop right there, Chit Sang.”

Immediately, Sokka felt an intense dislike for the bully of a guard and his nasally, impetuous tone, and apparently neither did Zuko because he felt him try to approach. 

Sokka internally chided his friend’s protective instincts (while also appreciating him for them), knowing it would only hurt more than help. He grabbed Zuko’s bicep to keep him in place. 

“We can't blow our cover,” he mumbled through the corner of his mouth, feeling Zuko’s muscles tense up in frustration that Sokka could empathize with. 

“I've had it with your unruly behavior!” the guard mocked in front of them. 

“What did I do?” the prisoner, Chit Sang, asked, seeming more tired than threatening. 

The guard sneered, “He wants to know what he did,” he singsonged turning to ZUko and Sokka conspiratorially, making Sokka feel ill, “ Isn't that cute?”

The man began to frown when neither boy spoke up and finally, Zuko grunted, “Uh, very cute, sir.”

“Super cute,” Sokka added helpfully. 

The guard turned his focus back on the prisoner, “You didn't bow down when I walked by, Chit Sang!”

Chit Sang scoffed, “ _ What _ ? That's not a prison rule.”

“Do it!” The guard jeered to the laughter of a few of his comrades. 

Sokka saw the moment the prisoner rekindled his defiance and knew this wouldn’t go well. 

“ _ Make _ me.”

So he was surprised when it seemed the guard might be turning, but quickly realized what would happen a moment before he whipped back around to launch another fire whip at the man.

Luckily the man was apparently a bender as well and was able to stop it, redirecting it back at the guard who broke the blast with a kick.

“Tsk, tsk,” the man shook his head, grinning like a shark, “Firebending is prohibited. You're going in the cooler.” 

Sokka froze as the man turned to point at  _ him _ . 

“You! Help me take him in.”

Reacting quickly, Sokka leaned towards Zuko “Meet back here in an hour,” he whispered before running up to Chit Sang and the guard.

His heart sunk as he followed the older man into the building and down a long corridor towards a familiar looking door.

The cooler, Sokka thought, hackles rising as he remembered the way Zuko had been hurt so badly by the cruel invention.

With a heavy heart and a stomach full of guilt, he slowly brought the door to a close, staring at the man now shivering in the cold. 

At least there are no cuffs this time, he thought. 

“Can you believe this guy?” The guard nudged him looking amused at the now shaking prisoner. 

Sokka resisted the incredibly strong urge to punch the man’s lights out. 

He grunted, turning back around and going back the way he’d come.

He didn’t want Zuko out of his sight any longer than necessary. 


	19. The Morning Sunlight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> short Tyzula filler <3

Azula let the ends of Ty Lee’s unplaited hair fall through her fingers, listening to the soft huff of the other girl’s breath on the pillow next to her. 

She let herself stare at the contours of her friend's face, so soft and open. So very _un-Fire Nation_. 

She didn’t want to think about Ty Lee’s words, the confessions, the truths finally spoken out loud between them. 

Where she’d let herself be vulnerable. Be _weak_. 

But as she felt the ghost of Ty Lee’s feather light kisses on her eyelids, she couldn’t summon the disgust she normally felt at that concept. 

It had been... _nice_. To feel taken care of, to feel-

Well to feel _anything_ really, beyond cold satisfaction and pride at successful strategic maneuvers. 

Unbidden, it reminded her of a memory from childhood of her chasing Zuko around the palace gardens. Her breathy, carefree laugh, and tiny body. Zuko’s tinny adolescent whine and the feeling of the sun on her face, spark in her stomach. That was the same afternoon they’d received word from the front of Lu Ten’s death and Iroh’s subsequent surrender. 

The news hadn’t really hit her that hard since she’d never been as close to their cousin and Uncle as Zuko was, and father discouraged her from seeking their affections the way Zuko did. 

But it did mark a turning point. Set in motion the events that led her mother to abandon her without saying goodbye, father to take the throne, Zuko and Uncle, then eventually even Ty Lee and Mai to abandon her. 

It was the last day laughter had echoed across the turtleduck pond.

She hadn’t so much as visited the palace gardens after Zuko was banished, since there was nobody left to seek out and taunt. 

Besides, it reminded her of her mother and the time she dragged Azula from Zuko’s room by the ear, scolding her for scaring him like he was some sort of baby, then demanding answers, practically shaking her in her haste before turning and sprinting down the corridor when Azula finally spilled about Azulon's order. 

It was the last she ever saw of her. Lovely face, slight frown lines, and frightened amber eyes with a cold glint in them.

_Good riddance,_ her father’s voice said. _She was weak. You are strong. You should be glad she did not poison you like your brother._

Another voice with a rasp and slight lisp. _You miscalculated, Azula_. 

Mother had _hated_ her. Mother thought she was a _monster_. 

_Or had she miscalculated that as well?_

Then Ty Lee’s voice, real this time. 

“Azula?” she muttered blearily, “You up?”

Azula refrained from pointing out the obvious sunlight creeping through the blinds of her cabin window and watched as the nonbender stretched, before snuggling against Azula’s chest, arms wrapping around her back like an octopus. 

Azula couldn’t remember the last time she’d been held like this. Perhaps when she was very small and Zuko occasionally stayed with her at night during thunderstorms when she got scared. 

Before she showed her bending prowess. 

And nobody since then had been stupid enough to press themselves close to an open flame like her.

She was a _perfectly ruthless streamlined_ _weapon-_

She frowned as a string of Ty Lee’s saliva dripped onto the end of her hair. 

_I’m still dangerous and strong and_ **_not_ ** _weak_ , she thought to herself even as she let her head slip forward, so their foreheads were touching. 

And to her surprise, she really _didn’t_ feel weak as Ty lee looked up at her with her big grey eyes and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek. 

Azula felt like she could conquer (even more) kingdoms than ever before.


	20. The Fog

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorta more filler, but also New POV 👀

Zuko peered through the holes of his helmet, clutching his food tray tightly. He was way too nervous to eat, but he had to keep up appearances, and all the other guards around him had congregated here in the mess hall. 

He started as one of the men called out to him. 

“Hey, new guy! I know it's the rule to have your helmet on at all times, but this is the lounge.  _ Relax _ .” To his dismay, Zuko realized the man was right. He was sticking out like a sore thumb, but he had no choice. 

“But what if there's an incident?” he cleared his throat awkwardly, “If I'm not prepared, someone could uh...strike me on the head.”  _ Nailed it.  _

The man guffawed while the woman next to him giggled.  _ Maybe not. _

Zuko was glad his cheeks were hidden as he blushed.

“Give it a week, he'll loosen up,” the woman said, shooting him a sympathetic look he decided to capitalize on. 

He cleared his throat again to get their attention, “Can the new guy ask you veterans a few questions about the prison?”

“No,” the woman said bluntly, eyes hardening, and Zuko wanted to melt into the floor before she continued, face breaking back into an easy smile, “you  _ can't  _ date the female guards.”

The first man snickered, “ _ Trust me, you don't want to! _ ” as she threw a cup at him, making the other guards around them laugh. 

Zuko tried to laugh too, but his racing heart beat made it come out so breathy it might as well have been air. 

“Actually, uh...The Boiling Rock, it holds the Fire Nation's most dangerous criminals, right?” 

One of the other guards nodded, “So what about war prisoners?” he shifted onto his left foot.

Zuko tensed again as several of the guards chuckled some more. 

The woman shook her head, “Wow, you really are a newbie, aren’t you?” She tilted her head a bit, considering him, “How old are you?”  He ignored the question, tilting his head further so his scar faced away from her under his helmet. 

“Why not?” he asked, “Isn’t this the highest level security prison in the Fire Nation?”

“Yeah,” the first man muttered, “And we’d be the ones to take in prisoners of war if there were any.”

“Excuse me?” Zuko’s mouth felt dry.

“The army hasn’t taken war prisoners alive in years...the most recent orders from the top have been to capture and execute insurgents on sight.”

“But..” Zuko’s voice sounded very faint and far away “What if they surrender?”

The guards let out softer chuckles like everything Zuko said was just the funniest thing they’d ever heard, which made his fists clench. 

The first man shrugged, and Zuko wanted to choke.  Ignoring a soldier’s surrender was so…. _ dishonorable _ .

But the voice in the back of Zuko’s head whispered  _ they killed the air nomads, they would’ve hunted the dragons to extinction...why  _ **_wouldn’t_ ** _ they murder lowly enemy soldiers _ . 

“So there are no war prisoners here?” he repeated his original question, voice heavy.

“There are a few exceptions every now and then, but mostly….no.”

Zuko stood up from the bench quickly, knees hitting the bottom of the table.  “Aren’t you hungry?” the woman asked, looking from him to his full lunch tray. 

“Sorry, uh...bathroom,” he mumbled before walking on slightly shaky legs to the door. 

The minute he got into the hallway, he began to run. 

* * *

Katara set down her rice bowl, no longer hungry as she stared across the open air pavilion. 

“What if they don’t come back?” she said out loud all of a sudden, mostly to herself. 

She was mildly surprised when Aang answered in his soft, reassuring voice he sometimes used when he said something surprisingly wise. “Of course they will.”

“How can you be so sure?” she mumbled, shaking her head, still looking out into the fog beyond the stone ledge. She could  _ feel  _ it from where she sat near the small fire Druk had helped her light. 

Aang shrugged, “because they  _ have  _ to.”

Katara shook her head at his unshakable faith. 

She didn't know when she’d stopped having it. Sokka always said she’d been completely sure the Avatar would return, but in truth, it had only been a fervent hope, not a certainty. 

She hadn’t really had faith in people coming back in time since her father had left...hadn’t trusted people would be okay when she saw them again since her mother. 

“But what if they don’t?” she asked again, throat feeling tight. 

Aang shook his head sadly, “You can’t think like that, and be negative-”

“Of course she can,” Toph chimed in, and Katara finally turned her eyes from the fog to the girl on her right. 

Aang frowned a bit, looking at Toph as well, “Negativity isn’t conducive for growth-”

“Yeah, and neither is blind optimism, Twinkle Toes,” Toph said, dropping her bowl as well. 

Slowly, coming back to her body, her surroundings, Katara reached out a slow hand to run down Druk’s scaly back. She shivered, realizing how cold she’d gotten and moved forward to poke at the fire a bit. 

Of course it reminded her of Zuko and the Fire Nation and the reckless suicide mission her brother and boyfriend were on for a father that might not even… Well, it reminded her of why her chest felt so tight in the first place. 

She vaguely listened to the argument that had sprung up between Aang and Toph and poked the kindling.  She wished Sokka was there to lighten everyone’s mood with a goofy story or joke. She wished Zuko’s calm, steady presence was there to anchor her. 

She wished she could talk to her mom, just one more time. Ask her if she was doing everything right...What to do after the war...to tell her it’d be okay, and to believe it. 

She was drawn from her ruminating as a soft hand fell on her shoulder, making her startle a bit. 

She looked up to see Aang standing next to her, looking down, grey eyes wide and brow furrowed in concern. “Katara?”

“Yeah?” she asked.

“You’re uh..” Aang shifted, frowning more, “You’re crying..” he said. 

“Oh,” she lifted a hand to her cheek and realized he was right. 

“What’s wrong?” he asked, voice painfully soft. 

She looked up at the earnest face of her best friend, the world’s last hope, and hers. 

She squeezed her necklace tightly and decided to answer honestly. 

“I’m just tired of getting left behind.”

Her words drifted across the air around her before dissipating like the fog

* * *

Suki turned over onto her side, trying for the umpteenth time to find a comfortable position. Apparently, there wasn't one on her lumpy cell mattress. She tried not to shiver without a blanket to protect from the draft. For the first time in her life, she wished she was a firebender. 

Of course, that just reminded her of the Fire Princess and the reason she was here in the first place, singled out and separated from her girls-

Her heart clenched with the fear of not being able to watch over them, to guide them... _Especially the younger ones.._

She just had to hope she'd trained them all well enough to survive their imprisonment...that she'd see them all on the other side of this war.

But every day she spent doing sit-ups, push-ups, and handstands against the wall, cursing out Azula, imagining her face as she punched the air, she felt the confinement chip away at her certainty. Even if she could escape and take revenge on Azula... _should_ she? She was the figurehead for all the Kyoshi Warriors, and anything she did would reflect back on them. 

She knew the Warden wasn't above punishing her girls if she set a foot out of line. She couldn't do anything without absolute certainty it would work, and she didn't know if she could manage an escape all on her own. Though she'd been keenly observing the prison since her original transfer, there was no way to ensure a means of escape without outside help. 

Sighing in familiar frustration, she flopped back onto her stomach. 

Eventually, she heard the familiar grating of the large metal door opening and the guard yelling at them all to get up. 

She thought about ignoring him, but eventually decided against it, sighing as she stood up, wearily trudging with all the other inmates towards the prison yard. 

But she yelped as she was pushed towards a hallway near the exit only to collide with a guard of all people sprinting past her. 

She righted herself as he spun around, "Sorry!" he cried.

She froze in shock as the apology and something about the young, raspy quality of his voice set her senses alert.

She stared through he narrow eye slits in the guard helmet and could've sworn she saw gold ( _too_ gold, _Azula holding a knife to her throat_ ) eyes staring back at her. 

But before she could say or do anything else, the boy (and she could say that much with confidence, he was barely taller than her) was already running back down the hallway, and she was being pushed by the guard and flow of the crowd behind her. 

She was temporarily blinded as she stumbled towards the sunlight, for the first time reluctantly. 

_Something's about to happen_ , she thought. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess I just wanna emphasize that I think Katara still working through grief for her mom and all her trauma is super valid, and she has every right to experience a myriad of emotions all the time, and even though it's sort of become a joke, so much so they put "weepy Katara" as the trope in the Ember Island play, I think it's important to show girls feeling bad/painful/negative things without demonizing it 🤷♀️


	21. The Ally

Zuko leaned over slightly, catching his breath in the open air walkway, jumping slightly when he finally noticed a guard just a few feet away near his blind spot on his left side. 

Though he seemed awfully small for a full grown man…

_Better safe than sorry_ , he thought, calling out, “Hey there, er, fellow guard...how goes it?”

He was relieved when Sokka’s excited, high pitched voice met him and he pulled his helmet off to reveal his signature wolf tail, “ _Zuko_?” he practically shouted, looking dangerously amused at Zuko’s acting skills.

“ _Shhh_ !” Zuko hissed in annoyance, “ _Listen_ , I asked around the lounge. There are no Water Tribe prisoners,” he lifted his visor, wondering whether to disclose the worrying possibility that all war prisoners were now being executed, “I'm afraid your father's not here.”

He tried to keep his voice steadier than he felt. 

Sokka brow furrowed. “What? Are you sure, did you double-check?”

Zuko’s heart clenched at how young and disappointed Sokka sounded, “Yeah, I'm sure.”

“No,” Sokka swirled around to bang his fists against the wall in frustration, “ _No_!”

“I'm really sorry, Sokka.” 

And he _was_. Zuko’s throat felt dangerously tight as he fought to control his own sense of disappointment and guilt.

“So we came all this way for _nothing_ ?” Sokka shook his head, refusing to meet Zuko’s worried gaze, “I failed ... _again_.”

“You _didn’t_ fail,” Zuko said strictly, words coming out harsher than intended as he began to feel a rise of anger on his friend’s behalf, but Sokka wasn’t listening to him. 

“..I’m sorry I dragged you into this too…”

Zuko stepped forward and grabbed Sokka’s shoulder a bit roughly, “Hey!”

Sokka looked up finally, eyes a bit wide and surprised. 

Zuko cleared his throat, “I’m not going to abandon you...We’ll figure something out because that’s what you and I do, we adapt, but you don’t have to go through this alone, okay?” Zuko felt his cheeks heat but continued, “that’s what family is for, right? You helped teach me that.”

Sokka nodded slowly, blushing slightly himself and rubbing the back of his neck, “Yeah, I guess...I guess we can..” he faltered, eyes zoning out for a moment, looking over Zuko’s shoulder. 

“ _What_?” Zuko swiveled but saw nothing except the prison yard below, “What is it, Sokka?”

Zuko continued searching for an immediate threat in vain when Sokka slapped him on the back happily, startling him. 

“Maybe we haven’t failed yet after all!” 

Zuko took in Sokka’s smile then followed his gaze, this time seeing a girl in red prison garb who looked vaguely familiar. He realized she was the one he’d accidentally bowled over earlier in his rush to find Sokka. 

“Do you know her?” Zuko asked, observing Sokka’s slight blush at his words. 

“Yeah we’re old friends,” Sokka shrugged in a far too casual manner. “She’s the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors.”

Zuko tensed a bit. Yeah, he’d been to Kyoshi Island...when he was still twisted up with rage and vengeance and an impossible mission. 

It made him feel vaguely sick to think about that part of his life now.

_But if Sokka thinks she can help…_

“I saw a guard leading her from her cell earlier, I know which block she’s on.”

* * *

Suki began counting the cracks on the stone ceiling above her, but got lost again. She felt an odd sense of anticipation in her stomach since that morning, like something was about to happen any minute now. 

Which was why when she heard the ominous creek of her cell door, she was immediately on her feet, knees bent and hands fisted.

She let her hands drop just a bit when she realized it was just a guard.  _ Who else had she expected? _ She thought sadly before her disappointment quickly morphed into familiar anger and defiance. 

“What is it?” she spit out, “Did I do something wrong?”

The guard just shut the door softly, before crossing his arms and speaking (in an oddly high pitched voice), “You mean you don't recognize me?”

She squinted at the guard, but it was too dark to really make out the features under the helmet. 

This was the second time that day she’d felt this sense of deja vu... _ Or maybe I’m just going crazy in here _ , she thought.

She shook her head, averting her eyes bitterly, “You people all look the same to me,” she muttered, ready to fall back on her cot and take a nap when the guard took a step forward setting her back on edge.

“Suki-”

She didn’t have time to wonder why the guard used her real name before she felt his hand on her shoulder and flipped around, grabbing the guard’s wrist and violently shoving him against the inside of her door.

She’d been playing nice, but  _ no one would get the drop on her like that _ -

Her eyes widened as up close she finally took in the blue eyes underneath the helmet, and backed off just a bit. 

_ It couldn’t be _ ..

She stepped back, letting the guard reach up to lift his helmet off his head, and didn’t bother stifling a gasp as she saw him-

“Sokka!” she cried, “It's you!” 

She rushed towards him again, but this time to pull him into a relieved hug. 

Slowly, he wrapped his arms around her back, squeezing and letting out a sigh, and Suki felt all the muscles in her body relax for the first time since she was separated from her girls. 

Eventually, Sokka pulled back, just enough to look at her, warm arms still encircling her, “The other Kyoshi Warriors, are they here?”

“No,” Suki admitted, letting her fear show for the first time since arriving, “I don't know where they are now. They locked me in here because I'm the leader.”

She sighed as she felt Sokka cup her left cheek with his right hand. His hands were softer than her own and bigger, and she wanted to cry it felt so good to see him again-

“Well, you won't be here for long. I'm busting you out,” Sokka said, corners of his mouth tugging up playfully, but eyes still serious.

Suki just nodded, putting her own hand against Sokka’s cheek, admiring the curve of his jaw, the messy, unshaved sides of his hair, his eyes, his  _ presence _ . 

She closed her eyes and pulled him close again, enjoying his distinctly salty and musky boyish scent. 

Suki was no damsel in distress, and she knew how to take care of herself, but...In her most terrified moments in her time at the prison, she’d longed for a moment just like this...to have someone to watch her back again. 

“I missed you,” she mumbled into his shoulder, collecting her own emotions, feeling warmth spread in her stomach as he kissed the top of her head. 

“I missed you too-”

They both paused as a tapping at the door drew their attention. Suki saw Sokka still immediately and followed his lead, staying silent. 

They held their breath, listening as mumbled voices filtered through the metal. 

She heard a muffled but familiar voice, “No you can’t go in there!” shortly followed by the sound of a scuffle.

She and Sokka flinched as a body was thrown into the door, and she caught a hint of black hair through the looking hole in the door, and Sokka tensed up more. His expression turned serious as he lowered his gaze and put on his helmet, bracing himself.

She gave his arm a quick squeeze before he quickly and quietly exited the cell with the fight outside as a distraction.

Once Sokka had safely made his exit undetected, Suki stood, peering through the window at the top of her cell door. 

She saw a female guard straddling the kicking and flailing black-haired guard beneath her, gesturing towards Sokka, “Guard, help! I think he's an impostor!”

Sokka hesitated, as the woman scowled, “Help me arrest him!”

As Suki watched, the boy managed to buck the woman off his back, flipping over and pinning her to the ground with his knee, helmet finally falling off. 

The female guard voiced Suki’s own surprise as she gasped, “The traitor prince!”

Suki wasn’t sure about the story behind the “traitor” prince, but she’d never forget the scarred and sneering face of the leader of the first Fire Nation soldiers to enter Kyoshi Island since she’d been born.

The one who’d left a blazing trail of chaos and fear and confusion in his midst, who’d forced Sokka and the others to flee just as she was getting used to their company. 

As Suki watched, the female guard screamed at Sokka again, and this time she had no choice but to grab Prince Zuko from behind and throw him down to the floor. 

“You're under arrest!” Sokka cried, but even without knowing him, Suki would’ve noticed the reluctance with which Sokka manhandled the Fire Nation prince, flinching slightly as the female guard stood and spit in Zuko’s face while Zuko himself remained stoic. 

She watched calculatingly as Sokka dragged his...Royal Fire Nation  _ ally? _ Along the corridor after the female guard, scanning him for serious injury. 

She shook her head. 

It was all crazy, but it was exactly the kind of opportunity Suki had been waiting for. 

And she’d be damned if she let an old grudge stop her from taking it. 


	22. The Turnaround

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Biden's win gave me just enough serotonin to update

Sokka tried to keep his breaths even as he walked on Zuko’s unscarred side, helping escort him...well, he didn’t know where the other guard was leading them, but he doubted it was good. 

He grunted slightly as they turned an unfamiliar corner and the female guard shot him a look. 

“And where are we heading?” he asked, trying to sound casual. He saw Zuko tilt his head towards her as well.

“A holding cell,” she muttered, annoyed by his apparent stupidity. 

Sokka let out a small breath and let his shoulders drop a fraction of an inch. _A holding cell...that wasn’t too bad, was it?_

“-At least until the Warden interrogates him and wants him moved elsewhere,” she continued, shrugging and turning yet another corner. 

Sokka felt Zuko tense at “interrogate” and his frown returned. 

He desperately wanted to believe even Fire Nation prison wardens had some respect for human rights and wouldn’t resort to torture, but he’d learned not to overestimate the enemy’s morality a long time ago. 

He shot a quick glance towards Zuko whose face remained annoyingly stoic even as his right hand shook slightly. 

Sokka knew him well enough now to notice that and the hint of panic behind his eyes. On his right side, his face looked younger than ever, and Sokka felt another surge of protectiveness. 

He steeled himself to do whatever he needed to do. 

Finally, they reached a small and shadowed block, and the female guard grunted as she pulled the heavy metal door back. 

Sokka ground his teeth but shoved Zuko inside as expected. 

Zuko played along and staggered more than the push necessitated while Sokka took quick stock of their surroundings. There, in the center of the small, dark cell was a chair with cuffs attached to the arms and feet. 

Sokka and Zuko both eyed it warily, waiting for the guard to determine their next move. 

“Keep an eye on him,” she grunted at Sokka, “I’ll go send someone to get the Warden and come back with prisoner clothes and reinforcement.”

Her eyes glanced over Zuko as she sneered in apparent disgust, but Zuko paid her no attention and continued to stare at his feet. Sokka shifted awkwardly. 

“Are you a bender?” she asked, and Sokka stood there confused before finally realizing she was talking to him. 

“Oh, uh..” Sokka saw Zuko give an imperceptible nod, “yes, yes I am.” He pulled his shoulders up higher. 

She’d feel more comfortable letting him guard Zuko if she thought he was competent. 

“Good,” she nodded, letting him know he was right, “wish _I_ was...Don’t be afraid to give him a few good burns if he tries anything.”

Sokka wrinkled his nose under his helmet but outwardly nodded. 

She gave Sokka one last appraising look before turning to Zuko. Right as Sokka thought she’d turn around and leave, she kicked her foot out, swiping Zuko’s legs out from under him. 

Zuko let out a breath as his back thudded against the floor, but otherwise didn’t react, staying down as the guard eyed him suspiciously. 

“Don’t forget to cuff him.” Finally, seeming satisfied, she turned around and left, letting the metal door bang on the way out. 

Instantly, Sokka helped Zuko back to his feet, trying to check him over for injury in the faint light let in by the grate-like window on the cell door. 

“Shit,” Sokka breathed out once he was sure the guard wasn’t in hearing range, “shit, shit, _shit_.”

He felt Zuko’s hand on his shoulder briefly. “It’ll be okay,” he said quietly, sounding too resigned for Sokka’s liking. 

“You can’t keep becoming a prisoner like this,” Sokka accused, glaring at Zuko. “It’s a really bad habit.”

Zuko let out a small chuckle. “Sorry for stressing you out, Sokka.”

Sokka rolled his eyes, but since it was awfully dark, he added, “That’s not what I- Ughhh, you’re still the worst...Even though you’re our friend now, you’re still the worst.”

They sat there in silence for a few more seconds before Zuko sighed, turning his back towards Sokka and holding his wrists together. 

“You should probably _try_ to pretend you don’t trust me.”

Reluctantly, Sokka pulled the handcuffs (thankfully, just normal ones) from his utility belt and clasped them over Zuko’s wrists, making sure they were as loose as possible. 

Zuko turned around and Sokka couldn’t meet his eyes. “Are you sure you don’t want to make a run for it _now-_ ” Sokka breathed, “We probably have a few more minutes until-”

“No,” Zuko cut him off, “We have to help Suki...We can’t do that if you blow your cover too.”

Sokka squeezed his eyes shut, before letting out a resigned sigh. 

“Fine. Just don’t...no matter what they say, don’t listen to them, okay?”

Zuko didn’t respond, but Sokka could tell he hadn’t internalized it.”

“I’m serious, Zuko, you’re not a traitor, no matter what they say.” Sokka shook his head. “You’re the best thing that ever happened to the Fire Nation.”

_And one day_ , he didn’t add, _your people will recognize that too_. 

* * *

Azula watched the wind from the open window play with Ty Lee’s braid as they sat thigh to thigh on the bench in the training room. 

Azula should have spent the entire morning consulting with the captain on the best route to make it to the Western air temple as soon as possible since their journey had been waylaid by a serious storms and bad weather, but Azula had gotten distracted by _other_ things-

_She’d been weak and imperfect and lazy and-_

She felt Ty Lee’s sweaty neck slide onto her shoulder and held her breath before relaxing her own weight against her.

“Whatcha thinking about?” Ty Lee asked, voice light, eyes probably sparkling. 

“Nothing,” Azula lied, pushing her own sweaty bangs from her face. 

“You’ve been awfully distracted this week,” Ty Lee mused. 

Azula laughed derisively, “I wonder _why_.”

She glanced over and caught the smug smile that played across Ty Lee’s face. She just rolled her eyes and picked at the ends of her freshly cut nails. 

“Whatever, we’ll still make it to the temple in an allowable time frame,” she said.

Ty Lee sat up to look at her, grey eyes annoyingly serious. “Are you sure you still want to go there?”

“Yes, of course!” Azula scowled, shaking her head as if it was a ridiculous question, “Why wouldn’t I?”

Ty Lee’s eyes lost their mirth from earlier, “I don’t know...I thought maybe with all the refueling breaks we’d been taking…”

“We needed _supplies_ , Ty Lee,” she said, trying to sound as condescending as possible, though it didn’t land quite as strongly as it used to. 

Not now that Ty Lee had seen Azula at her most vulnerable-had made her the most vulnerable and fragile she’d ever been. 

Azula didn’t know what that made her now. 

Her walls were still very much intact, but now she knew it was possible for someone to scale those walls, to chip at them. The thought jarred and excited her in equal measure. 

The way Ty Lee freely looked at her now did the same. 

Azula half heartedly wondered how _she_ looked at Ty Lee. She had an excellent poker face, but…

“But not that much supplies,” Ty Lee rebutted. 

“Are you questioning my judgement?” Azula sneered, letting the coldness she used to address the captain seep into her voice.

Ty Lee’s face hardened accordingly. “Yes, I am,” she said sternly, meeting Azula’s gaze. 

Once upon a time, Azula would have burned her for that. 

Now Azula _chose_ to back down first. It wasn’t weak if it was her _choice_ to give the girl mercy. 

“Well, there’s no rush anyhow, we know the Avatar and his _companions_ ” her mind flashed to her _traitor_ brother “-have no idea we’re coming.” She waved a dismissive hand. 

She hated the look in Ty Lee’s eyes, the one mother used to get, that flash of disappointment. 

She shook it off. 

“Stop whining about travel routes, won’t you?” Azula took her hand and stood up. “We’re both appallingly filthy, we need to freshen up before dinner with the captain.”

“Are you saying-”

“All I’m saying is there’s a drawn bath waiting in my quarters.”

Ty Lee stood up to follow her, smiling again and Azula felt the curl of excitement in her stomach that had been distracting her from her mission all week. 

And again, she _let_ it. 

* * *

Zuko frowned, pulling on the tattered red prisoner’s garb with his currently unrestrained hands. 

He and Sokka were no longer alone, and Zuko changed quickly, feeling his blush increase at the multiple pairs of eyes glaring at him from each corner of the room. 

Only Sokka’s gaze wasn’t venomous. 

The minute he’d finished pulling on his new shirt, the same guard from before grabbed his arm and dragged him over to the wooden chair in the center of the room. 

“Sit,” she growled, shoving him unnecessarily. Though at this point, Zuko felt numb to the manhandling. 

After a childhood growing up in the palace with Ozai, the disdain of a few stranger’s was relatively easy to bear.

He stayed still as she fastened the metal restraints around his wrists and ankles. He could probably still bend like this if he tried, but he wasn’t trying to make this harder on himself or Sokka than it needed to be. 

After a long waiting period of stilted breaths and anxious nausea, the metal door finally slammed open once more. 

The cell was no longer dark, now lit by the glow of a few torches the back-up guards had brought back with them, and he clearly saw the tall, foreboding figure of what he assumed was the Warden there to interrogate him. 

His heart pounded while he held himself as still as possible. 

“Prince Zuko,” The man's mouth curled into a smile. 

Zuko’s cheek stung as the man backhanded him quickly. 

“That was for my niece.”

Zuko didn’t bother hiding his confusion, and the man just laughed. 

“How rude of me, let me introduce myself,” the man drawled, “I’m part of the Taniguchi line.”

Zuko’s stomach somehow dropped even lower, “You’re-”

“Mai’s uncle, yes.” 

Zuko shook his head. He hadn’t seen Mai since his banishment, but he knew her family must have taken it personally when he’d chosen to disgrace himself.

Afterall, they’d been engaged since they were born. If Zuko hadn’t gotten himself banished, Mai would’ve been set to become the next Fire Lady, and her parents wouldn’t be politically exiled in the colonies. 

_Shit_ , he thought. _Maybe I should’ve taken Sokka up on his original offer_. 

* * *

Azula pulled her robe tighter to her body as she heard a knocking at the door. The ends of her hair continued to drip dry as she stomped to the door in annoyance; If she was home, she’d have enough servants to intercept all these annoying messengers for her, even after dismissing some for privacy.

“What?” she sneered, pulling the door open. 

The common soldier waiting blushed when he saw her partially dressed, immediately bowing and refusing to meet her eyes. She rolled her eyes at the gesture and snatched the note he held in his hand. 

“It arrived just a few moments ago, Your Highness,” he explained as she unfurled it. 

She glanced at it for a second before slamming the door on him. She turned to her dresser and began to pull out her uniform. From the bathroom, she heard Ty Lee call out to her.

“Hey, Azula, can you heat the water up again? You should get back in!”

Azula shook her head searching for a towel. She heard the slosh as Ty Lee stepped from the tub and stepped into her room when she didn’t respond. 

“What are you doing? You just said you _weren’t_ in a rush to get to the air temple.”

“We’re not going to the air temple anymore,” Azula muttered, glancing at Ty Lee before looking back at her feet quickly, blushing like that stupid solider. She found her own towel and tossed Ty Lee and extra. 

“Then where are we going?”

“We’re going to the Boiling Rock.”


	23. The Decision

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a bit of whump, a new character reveal and decisions made...

Katara woke up even earlier than usual just as the sun began to rise. She curled over to see if Druk was awake, and he plodded up to rub the side of his face against hers. His scales were a little rough on her skin, but she appreciated the gesture. 

She gave him a few solid chin scratches before standing from her sleeping roll and walking towards the edge of the temple pavilion. 

She watched quietly, digesting the objectively spectacular view of the sun breaching the horizon line, the way the morning fog began to turn yellow and orange and warm. 

It was a beautiful morning.

So why did she have such a bad, sinking feeling in her gut?

It had been four days since Zuko and Sokka had left on their ridiculously dangerous mission. Four days of an upset, fluttery stomach, half-hearted bending and eating meals mechanically, while her brain remained situated somewhere else, past that horizon line. 

She stretched and went to give Druk his morning scraps of jerky. She chewed her own quickly and efficiently, barely tasting them as they went down her gullet. 

Her eyes barely left the horizon line, and by the time the sun was a fully realized circle above the distant mountains, Druk also seemed on edge. 

He whined softly, and she looked down at him to see his bright yellow eyes meeting hers intently. 

The feeling deepened. 

“You feel it too, huh?”

She sighed, standing up and dusting off her sleep-rumpled tunic. 

“Well, there’s no use just sitting around,” she mused, still staring at the rapidly rising sun. 

Her jaw clenched tightly. 

“I’m done waiting.”

* * *

Sokka’s jaw hurt from how tightly he’d been clenching it. The warden had arrived late the night before, and Sokka could see the hint of morning sunlight creeping in from the outside corridor. 

He wondered if Zuko could feel it too. He hoped so, hoped it gave him some more strength. 

His friend looked like he could use it. Zuko’s eyes were heavy and tired as he answered the man’s questions over and over again. Always the same answer. 

“ _ I don’t know. _ ”

Sokka flinched as the man sent a quick punch to Zuko’s gut before immediately repeating the question. 

“ _Where_ is the Avatar?”

“I _said_ ,” Zuko spit out again, “I. don’t. know.”

This time, the warden’s right hook left a small trail of blood dripping from Zuko’s nostrils. Sokka hoped it wasn’t broken. 

Of course, Katara could fix anything bad once they escaped, but Zuko  didn’t  _deserve_ this, any of it.  Again, Sokka felt his throat constrict with emotions he had to keep hidden under his helmet. 

They’d made it this far. Surely, the warden himself would have to leave soon, to eat, relieve himself,  _ something- _

Zuko sat in silence aside from a few sharper, panting breaths, and the warden straightened, stepping away. 

“Well,  _ Prince  _ Zuko, it seems like it’s time to bring in some of the help I requested from the Capital.”

Sokka saw Zuko’s head snap up, betraying the first sign of genuine fear all night. Sokka’s own heart jumped. 

_ There was no way the Firelord himself would deign to travel to a faraway prison, right? And if Azula came, she might be terrible, but surely she wouldn’t torture her own brother?  _

_ Right? _ Sokka trembled. 

“I sent a messenger hawk to her last night, and she should have arrived by now,” the warden continued, heading towards the corridor. 

Zuko looked as wary as Sokka felt as they watched the door in apprehension.

To Sokka’s surprise as the door wrenched open loudly, it wasn’t Azula’s outline he saw framed by the growing morning sunlight.  It was a girl with long, sleek black hair and bangs, a sharp chin and eyes that could cut glass. Sokka recalled a vague memory of her hurling tiny daggers at them with uncanny precision. 

The look she leveled at Zuko now seemed like one of those very daggers. 

Sokka turned to Zuko and saw his good eye was wide. He seemed genuinely surprised by this turn of events. 

“ _ Mai? _ ” Zuko mumbled as she stepped closer into the torchlight. 

“ _ Zuko _ .”

* * *

“What would Zuko be doing in a Fire Nation prison?”

“I don’t know,” Azula grit out. 

“Why would he leave the Avatar’s side, I mean-”

“ _ I don’t know, Ty Lee! _ ” Azula snapped, inhaling sharply through her nose as she leaned over yet another Fire Nation map. 

She pinched the bridge of her nose quickly before letting her hands drop back to the table. They’d already started rerouting their course and would arrive soon enough; there was no reason for her to feel this on edge. 

_ This is a good thing _ , she thought.  _ If Zuko is in Fire Nation hands, then my mission is essentially completed _ . 

_ This is  _ **_good_ ** , she thought again, a bit more aggressively, _ I’m  _ **_happy_ ** _ about this _ . 

“Zuzu has always been an idiot,” she drawled, straightening up, “who knows what ridiculous train of thought led him to try and infiltrate a highly fortified prison, but it’s great for us...Makes my job easier.”

“You’re not going to send him back to your  _ father _ , are you?”

Azula tried to ignore Ty Lee’s grim, horror-struck tone. She turned to look at the shorter girl. 

“Why shouldn’t I?”

Ty Lee looked close to tears, “..but he’ll…” she didn’t finish the thought just looked down at her feet sorrowfully. 

Azula could imagine what Ozai would do to Zuko. 

She remembered the smell of burning flesh and the sound of her brother’s screams. The way he’d disappeared right after, becoming a taboo topic just like their mother years before. 

And that was for  _ weakness _ , not  _ treason _ . 

Her hands shook slightly as she made her decision. 

“There’s no reason to bother the Firelord with this trivial matter. He’s already been disinherited, he’s no longer the Crown’s concern, I’ll-” she hesitated for just a moment, “I’ll take care of  _ it _ .”

She turned away from Ty Lee completely. 

“I’ll make it quick....he deserves that much.”


	24. The Knife

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mai POV

Mai searched Zuko’s battered face for a sign of the boy she once knew. 

He was taller, of course, jaw sharper, hair long and shaggy with some kind of bead of all things tied to a strand in the back. Her eyes scanned the ugly purple folded skin of his scar, his crumpled left ear and permanently slitted eye. She hadn’t ever seen his scar in person before. 

The last time she saw him was at the Agni Kai itself. She’d sat in a back row with her agitated father, her pregnant mother. 

She’d heard Zuko scream as Ozai melted half of his face off before chaos erupted and her betrothed was quickly ushered back to the palace for emergency medical treatment. 

Her parents’ faces didn’t betray anything, so she didn’t let hers either. (Even though, deep down she felt the beginnings of that simmering hatred that popped up everytime she heard Ozai’s name.)

At their house that night, her father had raged about the bad optics of it all; how it might affect their reputation to be associated with a future Firelord who’d already been branded as weak. Her mother sniffed and made an offhand comment about how they’d have to conceal the mark of shame in the royal portraits. 

And Mai, as always, stayed silent as she sat at the dinner table. Though this time she fingered one of the small knives Zuko had gifted her from the palace armory. 

He’d help sneak her in there during a disastrously awkward supervised “date” where they shook off their minders and giggled as they hid among the stacks of weapons and brandished steel. Zuko had shown her the dagger his uncle gave her, and they’d found a nice set of throwing knives to play with while their minders searched frantically for them. 

When she left the palace that day after being caught by their angry babysitters, he’d slipped her the pair she’d been using earlier. They’d been 10. 

Now, she fingered the very same knife she’d had hidden up her sleeve ever since.

The knives she’d perfected fighting with after Zuko was banished and her family was sent to New Ozai. 

The knives she sometimes imagined sinking into Ozai’s neck. 

Zuko watched her warily, and she could see in his unburnt eye the same boy she used to watch feed the turtle ducks. The boy who was kind to her after she scraped her knee running in the palace garden. The boy she’d grown up thinking she’d spend the rest of her life with.

“Leave us,” she hissed. 

* * *

Sokka was very reluctant to leave his friend all alone with the scary-looking knife girl, but he had no choice as the other guards filed out obediently. 

Even the warden followed after a short staring match with his apparent niece and he closed the door behind him, blocking Sokka’s view of Zuko. 

“Sir?” one of the guards began, and the warden turned to the assembled group. 

“You’re all dismissed for the day, I’m sure my niece can handle her vengeance on her own, and I’ll call for replacements for the next guard shift.”

They all nodded with “Yes, sir’s” and Sokka followed them as far as the hallway to the common room before turning back and walking as quickly as possible without catching unwanted eyes towards Suki’s prison cell.

* * *

“Mai,” Zuko rasped, and she realized how much deeper his voice was now, no longer squeaking at unfortunate moments or when he got angry. “I’m so sorry.”

She shook her head, voice low and even, “Why are you sorry, Zuko?”

“Your family..” he looked down “I didn’t mean for you all to...I’m sorry I hurt you like that.”

Mai squeezed the knife in her hand until her fingers felt numb. 

“Shut up,” she growled, turning away from him, eyes suddenly prickling. 

“I don’t-” he sounded confused, and Mai could imagine his yellow eyes going wide. 

“I don’t care about any of  _ that _ ,” she shook her head, feeling disappointed.  _ Didn’t he get it? _ She’d thought he’d understood her a bit better than that all those years ago. 

“Then what-”

She spun around, scowling, “I care-” she paused, “I  _ cared  _ about  _ you _ ! You were supposed to be my husband, and for years I didn’t know whether you were alive or dead!” she took a step forward but paused when he flinched. 

“How could you think I’d-” she trailed off as he relaxed and looked back at her. 

“I’m sorry-”

“STOP APOLOGIZING!” she yelled, showing more emotion than she probably had in the past four years combined. 

He started at her oddly and she realized her eyes were prickling with angry tears. 

“I’m sorry-” she began to growl, but the look in his eyes stopped her “-I’m  _ sorry  _ for leaving you behind.”

Mai felt her stomach twist and turn with all the repressed emotions she’d felt since that fateful day. She let the knife loosen in her hand as she slid it back to its rightful place up her sleeve. 

“Thank you, Zuko,” she whispered, “I’m sorry I couldn’t save you.”

Before she could change her mind, she walked over and unlocked the manacles around his wrists and ankles. 

“What are you-?” he sputtered, “Your uncle-”

She just frowned. “You’re my special prisoner, I can do whatever I want with you...and right now, I want you to join the other prisoners, don’t make yourself a target, lay low, and wait...”

“But what’re you-”

“Don’t worry about what I’m gonna do,” Mai whispered. She closed her eyes as a tear finally escaped and startled as she felt Zuko’s thumb wipe it off. 

“ _ Mai- _ ”

“Just get _out_ of here, Zuko.”

She kept her eyes closed until she heard the door shut and she was sure he was gone.  Slowly, she collected herself, whipping her eyes and straightening her back. 

She hadn’t been able to save him when they were 13, but she could try to save him now. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER: This is a Zutara fic, but I like Maiko as well, and I still think their relationship, whether romantic and/or endgame or not, is a good one that should be explored. In this story, Mai's feelings are unrequited, but Zuko loves her in his own way.


End file.
